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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28511460">Blood Dries Brown</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/UltimateFelixSimp/pseuds/UltimateFelixSimp'>UltimateFelixSimp</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Stray Kids (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, Bottom Lee Felix (Stray Kids), Felix is hug shaped, Gang AU, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Lee Felix-centric (Stray Kids), M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, SKZ kill bad people, and they simp for felix, but sad, child trafficking, except he doesn't know it, felix is a badass, how do you describe fight scenes idk, how do you describe houses idk, people die, protective skz, touch-starved felix, woojins the bad guy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 19:15:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>36,160</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28511460</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/UltimateFelixSimp/pseuds/UltimateFelixSimp</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ten minutes later, the office door opened. The room was filled with Hartman's off-key humming, and Minho felt disgusted. How could a man who sells children be so carefree, so happy? It was repulsive. He would enjoy killing him.</p><p>Minho listened as Hartman set something on his desk, most likely a briefcase if the clicking of locks was anything to go by. Minho moved closer to the end of the folding screen, ready to sneak up on Hartman as he counted his dirty money.</p><p>"How did you get in here?!" Hartman's angry, startled voice rang out, and Minho thought he was caught.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bang Chan/Han Jisung | Han/Seo Changbin, Bang Chan/Lee Felix, Han Jisung | Han/Lee Felix, Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Hwang Hyunjin/Lee Felix, Kim Seungmin/Lee Felix, Lee Felix (Stray Kids)/Everyone, Lee Felix (Stray Kids)/Stray Kids Ensemble, Lee Felix/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Lee Felix/Seo Changbin, Lee Felix/Yang Jeongin | I.N</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>182</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>574</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. I Harbinger</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>(Edit) Is my fic popping up when you guys look through any of the tags???? Like before i'd go through the lee felix tag to check and my fic would pop up but now it isn't and i'm????? confused cause idk if people are seeing it anymore?</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>"Lino, target located, 2 o'clock. Guards to the east and west."</em>
</p><p>Minho twirled his long glass, admiring the rich red color of the wine. The glass was cleaned to perfection - he could see his reflection in detail. He tipped his head back to sip it, eyes glazing around the packed room as he did. Quickly he was able to locate the guards mentioned, both on opposite sides of the room by the big double doors. They were dressed like normal party goers, in expensive suits and crisp ties, but Minho could see the differences in their demeanor and the subtle defensive way they held themselves, prepared to take action, that only another trained eye could see.</p><p>The target today is Carl Hartman. He's a stocky, short man, and the host of the party. He was influential and on the surface, an upstanding guy.</p><p>
  <em>"The showroom is above you. remember the name to use?"</em>
</p><p>Minho hummed in confirmation so as to not come across as suspicious to anyone in the crowd. He watched the target as he tipped his hat to the guards at the west door. He could tell by their lips moving they were having a brief, friendly conversation before he was allowed through.</p><p>Minho waited a moment before finishing off his wine, weaving through bodies across the floor. He set his empty glass on a servers tray as they passed by, the server none the wiser.</p><p>Minho made his way to the west door, posture straight and confident.</p><p>"Name?" The guard with the tablet asked.</p><p>"Kim Hojoon," Minho answered, using the name Seungmin supplied for him after hacking into the log of participants. The guard started reading down the list of names on the screen, checked it off, then opened the door for Minho to enter.</p><p>In ten minutes time, Seungmin would erase the name Kim Hojoon from the list, when the guards would forget about it. It would be inconvenient for the real Kim Hojoon to be allowed inside.</p><p>In front of him was a flight of stairs leading up to the floor above, bathed in red lights. He made his way up then pushed open the second set of double doors.</p><p>The doors opened up to a fenced in platform, elevated a few steps above the rows and rows of seats. On the other side of the room was a runway like stage, a heavy red curtain covering the wall, hiding anything behind it. This room wasn't packed full like the one downstairs. It was quieter, more tense. People weren't chatting, instead choosing to just wait patiently in their seats until they could flex their wealth.</p><p>Minho looked around in search for his target, only to see Hartman disappear behind the curtain. That was fine. He knew he wouldn't be going anywhere.</p><p>Minho sat in the second to back row, eyes scanning over the slowly building audience as more and more people entered.</p><p><em>"I'm in their security system. 17 kids, just like we thought. He makes this too easy,"</em> if Minho didn't know any better, he would've thought Seungmin sounded disappointed over the mic.</p><p>"We can't always hope for a hard twist, Min," Minho responded under his breath. Nobody was close enough to hear him whisper here.</p><p><em>"Five more minutes until the scheduled start time,"</em> Seungmin responded with instead. All Minho had to do now was wait.</p><p>Hartman came out onto the stage, microphone in hand. "Welcome all. I would like to thank you for your continued support. We won't keep you waiting any longer," His deep voice rang out through the hall, "as promised, the merchandise today is only of the highest quality. Make your wagers, empty your pockets, and bid to your heart's content!"</p><p>Minho joined in on the eager wave of clapping as Hartman made his way to the podium at the back of the stage, sliding the microphone into its holder. The lights moved to settle on the stage as the first kid came out. It was a boy, no older than 15, all bathed and dressed up to look more desirable than a boy his age should. Minho felt his heart ache.</p><p>"Starting at 5 000 - we got 10! 11! 12! Number 27 doubled it - 28! 29! 30! Do we have 31? Going once, twice! sold to number 45!"</p><p>The bidding went by quickly, Hartman's voice ringing out every time someone held up their hand to place their bid. When a child was sold, they were herded back behind the curtain to be tagged with their buyers number and caged.</p><p>Minho counted as each kid was presented. He pressed his lips into a thin line, an icy rage building up every time a kid was made to show off on stage. When they were down to the last, Seungmin piped in.</p><p>
  <em>"You'll have five minutes once I loop their feed of the hallway to get into his office, then ill loop it for another five minutes once you kill him."</em>
</p><p>Minho could tell Seungmin wanted to say more, so he waited.</p><p>
  <em>"I know you're worried about the kids. Don't be. Our guys are outside, ready to intercept and save them. Don't try to do anything you aren't here for."</em>
</p><p>Minho didn't respond.</p><p>"That concludes the bidding! I hope to see you all again!" Hartman's voice brought Minho back into focus as he made his closing statement about payment and goods before stepping off the stage to go meet and mingle with the buyers and collect money. He stood up as everyone else did, slipping through the crowd casually. He didn't bother heading to the door off the side of the stage that led to a straight shot to his office. A guard was placed there.</p><p>He went to the opposite side where the kids had been coming from, sneaking up onto the stage. The lights weren't focused on this part, thanks to Seungmin. He crept back, careful not to be seen.</p><p><em>"It's go time,"</em> Seungmin said, and Minho disappeared behind the curtain.</p><p>Minho couldn't bring himself to look at the kids in the cages. He forced himself to run past, telling himself that they would be safe. He found the hallway leading to Hartman's office. Nobody but Hartman and the guards knew about it, which was why there wasn't a guard. Minho looked up to the security camera placed there, flipping it off. The guard at the other side none the wiser, unknowingly being fed looped footage of an empty hallway.</p><p>Minho pushed open the office door, electronic locks disabled. He looked around the extravagant room Hartman didn't deserve. There wasn't a camera in here, mainly because Hartman was confident in the security a camera posted outside, electronic locks, and a fifth story floor offered. It would be his downfall.</p><p>Minho hid himself behind the decorative folding screen to wait.</p><p>Ten minutes later, the office door opened. The room was filled with Hartman's off-key humming, and Minho felt disgusted. How could a man who sells children be so carefree, so happy? It was repulsive. He would enjoy killing him.</p><p>Minho listened as Hartman set something on his desk, most likely a briefcase if the clicking of locks was anything to go by. Minho moved closer to the end of the folding screen, ready to sneak up on Hartman as he counted his dirty money.</p><p>"How did you get in here?!" Hartman's angry, startled voice rang out, and Minho thought he was caught.</p><p>"You won't care about that in a minute," a deep voice responded just as Minho was about to reveal himself, halting the action. Minho froze in place, just listening. The voice was chilling, with an underlying anger.</p><p>The sound of a yelp, thump, and money fluttering as it fell to the floor rang out quickly. Minho's mind was racing. He wanted to see.</p><p>"Get off of me!" Hartman demanded, clothes rustling as he struggled.</p><p>"Awe, Hartman. That's the first time you've ever said that to me. Don't tell me you don't remember?"</p><p>Everything stilled, and Minho could swear he would've been able to hear a pin drop. It was just heavy breathing, then,</p><p>"Yong-?" Cut off by the slick sound of cutting. Minho knew that sound - he had done it plenty of times to targets. His throat had been slashed.</p><p>"You'll die unable to say a word about it. You'll die seeing my face, hearing my voice," the unknown person said quietly amidst the struggling gurgles, then lower, almost a whisper, but holding so much meaning it send a shiver down Minho's spine, "You'll die regretting you hadn't killed me first."</p><p>The struggling stopped. Minho stepped out. Seungmin was speaking in his ear, but he couldn't hear it.</p><p>Minho's eyes followed the trail of money all over the floor, up to Hartman's limp body slung over the desk, unmoving, blood steadily flowing from the dark line carved into his neck onto the wooden desk, dripping onto the floor, quickly forming a puddle. Minho looked higher to see he was straddled by someone holding a bloody razorblade.</p><p>The guy turned to look at Minho, and holy shit, he was the most gorgeous person Minho had ever seen. He was entranced by pale skin, a gentle breeze brushing platinum blonde hair over dark doe eyes. Minho held eye contact, Until a fluttering caught his attention, eyes sliding to the source. The window was open, curtains ruffling in the breeze, and Minho briefly wondered how he had entered through a fifth story window when he knows for a fact that there weren't any fire escapes.</p><p>A flash of movement in his peripheral a second later startled Minho into action, and next thing he knew he was on his back, the gorgeous stranger's face hovering over him, razorblade pressed to his throat.</p><p>"Who are you?" The stranger hissed, and Minho knew he'd end up like Hartman if he didn't answer.</p><p>"It seems we had the same idea in mind." Minho smirked up at the boy, his own blade slipping from his sleeve into his hand. Just as quickly Minho held it against the boy's throat, bringing them into a stalemate. The boy didn't flinch. "though I would've loved to kill him myself."</p><p>Understanding seemed to dawn on the boys features, but he didn't move.</p><p>
  <em>"Lino, answer me!"</em>
</p><p>"I hear you, Min, you can stop yelling in my ear. I'm fine." Minho responds under the boy's intense gaze, "turns out somebody beat me to the punch."</p><p>
  <em>"What the fuck does that mean? If the targets dead, get out of there!"</em>
</p><p>Minho stared at the stranger. He didn't want to part ways. Something about the other intrigued him, pulling him in. Even with them pressing their weapons to each others necks, he wasn't afraid. He felt an odd sense of comradery. Plus, he was good eye candy. "My guy's got this place tampered. Would you care to join me in running away together?"</p><p>The kid didn't respond. Instead, he pulled away, making his way over to the window in three swift strides. "I don't think so," He said, smoothly pulling himself up into the window, illuminated by the moonlight. he looked ethereal. Minho was entranced. Then, he was out of sight.</p><p>"You can loop the footage again now. I'm getting out," Minho sighed as he stood up, closing the window. Drip, drip, drip went the blood, then he was out the door, making his way back to the crowd in the showing room. The looped footage of the empty hallway ended. To any outsider, Hartman would look like he was murdered by a ghost.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. II</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"He killed a guy," Seungmin pointed out helpfully. </p><p>"Your point?" Minho raised an eyebrow. Seungmin just facepalmed, and Chan threw his head back in a laugh.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Short chapter from Chan's point of view before we get into the bigger stuff ;)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"How's it going Seungmin?" Chan asked, leaning on the doorframe of Seungmin and Jeongin's shared room. Seungmin spun around in his chair to face their leader as he removed his mic, exasperated. </p><p>"Good, as far as I know. Minho's heading back now." </p><p>"What is that supposed to mean?" Chan asked, eyebrow raised. </p><p>"That's exactly what I said!" Seungmin threw his hands up dejectedly, clearly annoyed, and Chan had no idea what he was talking about. He decided to move on. </p><p>"Right. I'm going to check in with Jeongin." Chan walked over to Seungmin's setup of computers, But Seungmin didn't seem to hear him, just mumbling angrily to himself. Chan leaned over the desk, pressing down on the conference button. "Hey, Jeongin. How's Jisung's team with the recovery?" He asked into the mic. Jeongin popped up on the small screen in front of him, lollipop between his lips, from the view of a laptop he had settled in his lap. He looked comfortable. </p><p>"Just fine. Seungmin sent me names of the buyers, then I swiped their license plate numbers from security footage. Jisung and the others are intercepting them all now. We're lucky Got7 decided to help us with this one. We do NOT have enough space for all those kids." </p><p>Although the two youngest shared a room, Jeongin didn't like to stay in it often, only staying when he needed his own complex computer setup when they did bigger jobs. He had commandeered and revamped a more decorative-like alcove to fit to his comfort level, decking it out in pillows and blankets and a string of fairy lights, only accessible by a ladder. it had a small window, angled ceiling, and could only fit two people comfortably, three if they packed themselves in, but was somehow the coziest looking place in the entire house. </p><p>"Good to hear. Make sure you eat something other than candy today, alright?" Chan said. Jeongin waved him off, Then Chan ended the conference call. </p><p>"That kid, no respect," Chan shook his head, endeared. Seungmin was just watching now, having ranted himself to a calmer state. </p><p>"As soon as it was over, he left the room," Seungmin commented, "It's like I don't even have a room mate." </p><p>"Isn't that a good thing?" Chan smiled, dimples showing. Seungmin shrugged, then turned towards the computer screens, something in their security footage having caught his attention. </p><p>"Minho's back. I need to give him a piece of my mind," Seungmin stood up, setting his mic down on the desk harshly, anger resurfacing as he marched out of the room. </p><p>Chan sighed for what felt like the hundredth time, following him out to get Minho's report. They speed-walked through the maze of hallways, then down the short flight of stairs that lead to the main room. Minho was standing in the doorway, trying to tame his messy motorcycle helmet hair.</p><p>"Yah, Minho-hyung! Explain yourself!" Seungmin demanded, "What happened in that room?" </p><p>Chan looked over to Minho, concerned. Seungmin seemed angry, but underneath that Chan could tell he was just really worried. </p><p>"I'm sorry, Seungminnie. I didn't mean to scare you," Minho apologized, slipping off his dress shoes, "I promise I'll tell you in a few minutes. I'd like to change out of this stuffy suit." </p><p>Seungmin huffed, but relented, and Minho disappeared to his room. Chan went over to the younger, sitting him down on a couch. "Are you okay, Minnie?"</p><p>"... I am now that he's back. But it was really scary when he just went silent, Hyung." Seungmin whispered, leaning into his comforting embrace. Chan furrowed his eyebrows. Although he didn't have all the details, he had enough to tell that the operation went less than perfectly. A few minutes later, Minho came back out, dressed comfortably in black track pants and a white sweatshirt. He sat on the couch on Seungmin's other side, rubbing his back as he launched into his explanation. </p><p>"I got into the room first, but somebody took him out before I could," Minho summarized vaguely, "I was just about to step out and kill him when somebody else came in VIA window and slit his throat." </p><p>Seungmin looked up, bewildered, and Chan couldn't help but do the same. Wasn't that room on the fifth floor?</p><p>Minho just laughed at their expressions. "Yeah, I thought that too. But he did it, somehow," Minho leaned back, sounding impressed, "he didn't hurt me, though, so don't worry. I went silent because I was shocked. He left out the window right before I told you to loop the feed."</p><p>Chan shot Minho a look, "You, shocked? I find that hard to believe."</p><p>Minho just smirked, meeting his eyes, "what can I say? I get distracted by pretty things. That's why you banned me from working with Jisung."</p><p>"I didn't ban you from working with Jisung. I grounded you," Chan smiled fondly.</p><p>"For real though. You should've seen the guy, he was so pretty. I thought I was looking at an angel." Minho swooned. </p><p>"He killed a guy," Seungmin pointed out helpfully. </p><p>"Your point?" Minho raised an eyebrow. Seungmin just facepalmed, and Chan threw his head back in a laugh.</p><p>"I'm glad you got out safe, Minho," Chan said sincerely. Minho reached over, taking one of Seungmin's and Chan's hand each in his own, smiling back warmly. </p><p>"I always do, Chan."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. III</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>
  <em>White. Red. His vision was fuzzy. The red was growing. The floor was white. It hurt his eyes. He wanted to close them. His hands weren't shaking anymore.</em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>  <em>He was injured, wasn't he? So why didn't anything hurt?</em></p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <b>Five months later, February 1st.</b>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>"Minho, I need to talk to you guys. Can you come back?" Chan asked over the phone. Usually Minho would've questioned him a bit, wondered why he was interrupting their date, but something in his tone stopped him. Minho tugged on Jisung's wrist to get his attention, pulling him in a different direction down the street. Jisung eyed him curiously, confused. </p><p>"Sure thing. We'll be back in ten," Minho replied, then ended the call. </p><p>"What was that about?" Jisung asked, catching up beside him so he wasn't being dragged by the sleeve.</p><p>"Chan needs us back." Minho explained. The shorter just made a little understanding 'o' with his mouth.</p><p>As he said, ten minutes later they were inputting the code to enter the base. Upon entering it smelled like chemicals. Hydrogen peroxide and bleach, specifically. Minho scrunched up his nose. They must've finally killed the guy they were interrogating. Minho had a feeling he knew what this was about. Chan was waiting for them in the lounge room, stood in front of their tv mounted on the wall. The other members were already there, sitting on the couches in various states of cuddling. Minho sat down in a free space, pulling Jisung with him onto his lap. The atmosphere was tense. He definitely knew what this was about.</p><p>"We've found Kim Woojin," Chan started, and everyone sucked in a breath. <em>Kim Woojin.</em></p><p>Minho bit his lip. Everyone tensed at the mention of their former teammates name. </p><p>"He's coming here to Seoul next week on <em>business,</em>" Chan sneered, face twisting in disgust. </p><p>
  <em>Organ harvesting.</em>
</p><p>Minho felt anger rise up uncontrollably. The room filled with dread. Nobody spoke.</p><p>"We'll get him. We'll avenge him," Chan's voice held so much resolve, so much promise, and Minho felt scared for the first time in a long time. He didn't know why.</p><p>
  <em>
    <b>February 8th.</b>
  </em>
</p><p>Felix's hands hadn't shaken since that night he killed Carl Hartman. They were doing it again now.</p><p>He was sitting in the bar of the five-star hotel Kim Woojin always stayed at when he was in Seoul. He was scheduled to arrive at exactly 1pm, where the bellboy would meet him at the door to collect his luggage. Then, he would continue on with his ritual of having a drink before heading out for business. </p><p>If everything went to plan, Felix would be interrupting that routine.</p><p>Felix positioned himself so he could have the vantage point of the door, face angled away from the security cams. At 1pm, Kim Woojin walked in. Felix sipped his drink. Kim Woojin still looked like a strong man. Felix recognized him easily. Felix never forgot any of their faces, or their voices, or their touch.</p><p>As expected, the bellboy took his luggage from his hands and scampered off. Woojin kicked his shoes against the mat to rid them of dirt, taking off his hat as he made his way over to the bar and claimed a stool a few feet away from Felix. He ordered three fingers of rye, then began to look around the establishment he hadn't seen the interior of in months. Felix was slouched, supporting his chin in his hand. He looked up to meet his eyes when they landed on him. </p><p>Felix looked away, signaling the bartender to give him another drink. As expected, Woojin made his way over, sitting beside him. Felix didn't react.</p><p>"Any particular reason you're attempting to get drunk in a hotel bar?" Woojin questioned. He held himself proper, and spoke like one would imagine a fairy tale prince would. </p><p>"I... I broke up with my boyfriend," Felix let his eyes droop, words slurred, "he cheated. Felt like getting drunk to feel better." He rubbed his thumb over the lip of his empty glass before finishing it off, tipping his head back to expose his throat. He could feel eyes on him. The bartender set his next drink in front of him.</p><p>Woojin was silent at first, then he smiled. It was a friendly, warm, disarming smile, and if anybody but Felix was going after him today, they would've fallen for it. "Your boyfriend, huh? I'm sorry to hear that," he sounded sympathetic, and Felix found he faked it so well, "I know something else that could make you feel a bit better, if you want to try it?"</p><p>Felix felt a hand on his knee, rubbing slowly. Felix glanced down at his glass. His hands were still shaking. He looked up, pretended to hesitate. "Yeah? And what would that be?"</p><p>Woojin just smiled again, gesturing for the bartender. "I'll pick up his tab. Keep the change," He said, dropping a couple bills on the counter. He stood up, gesturing for him to follow, "Come with me and I'll show you."</p><p>Felix abandoned his new drink in favor of following him to the elevator. The doors closed, trapping them both inside as Woojin clicked the button for the top floor. </p><p>Woojin didn't do anything the whole way up. Felix watched the numbers above the elevator doors light up as they passed each floor. The cold weight of a razor under his tongue occupied his thoughts. He itched to use it. But he could wait. The doors opened with a ping to a large penthouse suite. The floor was a soft, white carpet, aside from in the small kitchen area, which was tiled. an entire wall was made of glass, looking out over the city. A neatly made queen sized bed, walk in closet, flat screen tv, and various decorations completed the room. </p><p>"Please, take off your shoes and make yourself comfortable," Woojin said, setting his loafers on the shoe rack. Felix toed off his boots and did the same, making his way further into the room as Woojin took off his coat.</p><p>A clicking sound from behind. Felix's hands hadn't stopped shaking. <em>A gun.</em></p><p>"Did you think I wouldn't of remembered you, little Yongbokkie?" Woojin said. Felix turned around, dropping the drunk act. He hated that name.</p><p>"I hoped so," he responded coolly, unfazed by the sight of the gun pointed at him, "Hartman didn't." </p><p>Woojin just laughed. "I had a feeling his death was your doing. He was livid when you ran away, you know. He missed you a lot," Woojin mock pouted, "did you think you could get me, too?" </p><p>Felix didn't answer. Woojin dropped the smile. He gestured with the gun towards the kitchen, "go over there. I wouldn't want to dirty the carpet. It would be a hassle to rip it up and replace it." </p><p>Felix's mind was running a mile a minute, trying to figure out a way out of this. All he had on himself was the razor. Everyone knew not to bring a knife to a gun fight. He made his way over to the kitchen. could he make him think he wasn't alone? Make him think he had an accomplice?</p><p>Woojin walked closer, standing at the edge of where the carpet ended. "I wish I didn't have to kill you, Yongbok. You were always such fun. But it's too dangerous to let you live."</p><p>Felix narrowed his eyes, veins thrumming with anger. He dislodged the razor with a quick move of his tongue. "Good luck getting out of here, Woojin," Felix said cryptically, hoping he wouldn't pick up on his bluff.</p><p>Woojin paused, narrowing his eyes. Felix could see the questioning in his gaze, trying to decipher what he meant. "You and I both know you're in no position to get the upper hand and kill me."</p><p>Felix just tilted his head slightly in response, glancing over at the large window quickly. It was ideal for a sniper, after all. Woojin followed his gaze, unsettled, fooled by his bluff. The gun lowered slightly. <em>Opportunity.</em></p><p>Felix ducked, swiftly plucking the razor out of his mouth as he did so, launching forwards. Woojin's attention turned back onto him, but too late. Felix knocked the gun out of his hand, sending it sprawling against the kitchen floor. He grabbed the front of Woojin's dress shirt, pushing back as he kicked his legs out from under him. Woojin went down with a grunt as Felix pinned him, but before he could slash his throat, Woojin knocked him off with a foot to his gut, flipping him over his head.  </p><p>Felix ignored the pain in his back and quickly got back on his feet, rushing Woojin again as he rolled to his feet. Felix threw a punch to his jaw, knocking his head to the side, then one to his stomach, razor pointed outwards. Woojin grabbed his hand, twisting sideways as he yanked his arm down and around, pinning it to his back. Before Felix could twist out of his grip, something cold pressed to his back. The silencer did its job, he didn't hear a thing. </p><p>"Too bad, Yongbokkie. You tried," Woojin whispered in his ear. Pain bloomed in Felix's side. <em>He'd been shot.</em></p><p>Woojin let go, and Felix fell forwards, dropping the razor. his vision spun. The floor was cold. Feet entered his vision. There was a grip on his hair, lifting his head up. Woojin smiled down at him. "I have somewhere to be. I'm sorry to say you're going to die here, Yongbokkie. I would've liked to have a little bit of fun with you first." </p><p>Woojin tilted his head. "Still so pretty. It's a shame, really. But I guess your body will still be here when I get back. I'm not into dead bodies, but your organs might still be useable, hopefully," He said with a frown. Then, he left.</p><p>Felix struggled to push himself up, to go after him. His hands slipped on his blood and he fell back to the floor. He couldn't move. He couldn't see anything besides the white floor. </p><p>
  <em>Was this going to be where he died?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>White. Red. His vision was fuzzy. The red was growing. The floor was white. It hurt his eyes. He wanted to close them. His hands weren't shaking anymore.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He was injured, wasn't he? So why didn't anything hurt?</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. IV</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The rumbling of his motorcycle felt like a beasts war cry. </p><p>Fitting, seeing as how they were on a hunt, stalking their prey.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Should I dedicate a chapter to the characters profiles after the time skip? I'd attempt to rearrange the chapters and stick it between 2 and 3 probs<br/>can I even do that??? Change the order of the chapters??? Pls tell me I'm an AO3 writer fetus</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <b>February 8th, 11 am.</b>
  </em>
</p><p>Thanks to the interrogation, they got a good idea of When Woojin would be arriving, and knew where he would be staying for the night. Seungmin was able to confirm everything their captive told them within two days. Woojin was only in the city until tomorrow, where he would fly off to the US. The rest of the week was spent strategizing and planning.</p><p>Today was the day. Jisung knew Chan would go all out for this. They all felt vengeance thrumming through their veins, permeating their minds and poisoning their thoughts. Usually, they make their assassinations just that - assassinations, quick and quiet. But not this time.</p><p>Chan made a point to say he wanted Woojin to suffer. He didn't wish to just sneak up on him and take him out silently, without Woojin having any idea as to who had done it. Chan wanted Woojin right in front of him, looking into his eyes, knowing exactly the reason he was being killed for. Chan wanted to <em>torture</em> him. Jisung agreed wholeheartedly. After all, Yedam didn't get to go peacefully. His heart ached at the thought of their old friend. He looked over to the picture on his desk of them all together. <em>Soon, Yedam. You wont have to wait any longer.</em></p><p>"Ready to go, Jisung?" Changbin asked from the doorway. Jisung wiped his eyes, picking up his bag, slinging it over his shoulder. </p><p>"Yeah. Lets go." </p><p>
  <em>
    <b>12:30 am</b>
  </em>
</p><p>The rumbling of his motorcycle felt like a beasts war cry. </p><p>Fitting, seeing as how they were on a hunt, stalking their prey. </p><p>Chan stood casually, leaning against the motorcycle. He has his phone pinned between his ear and shoulder, but it wasn't on. It was only a cover to make his conversation with the other members look like a harmless phone call. They never used their phones when discussing plans. As much as he trusted Jeongin's ability to encrypt them and keep out outside forces, Chan never wanted to risk it.</p><p>"Are you guys in position?" He asked over the ear piece. </p><p><em>"Yep. I'm on the roof, have eyes on his room,"</em> came Jisung's reply. </p><p><em>"Yes. He just left the airport. He's on his way there now,"</em> Changbin updated. </p><p>Today's plan was simple. They'd follow his every move, every breath. Once Woojin got to his hotel, Seungmin would follow his movements with the cameras. Unfortunately, there wasn't one in his room, so they had to be creative. Jisung was posted with binoculars on a nearby building that had a direct view of his room. Jeongin had checked out the building typography for the area to find the ideal spot. Once he was done in the hotel, Chan was to follow him by motorcycle to an inconspicuous facility right beside a hospital.</p><p>There are many ways people in the organ harvesting business do it. They pick drunks up off the streets, find homeless people, have other underground connections who provide the people. Or, they corrupt doctors to lie about the types of surgery their patients need. Woojin utilized all of them, especially trafficking and corrupt doctors.</p><p>Woojin was supposed to stay at the facility until late at night to make sure things were running smoothly and take care of business. There, Chan would take out and replace his personal driver, when it was unlikely anyone would see or notice. From his profile, he didn't look like a strong guy. It would be easy.</p><p>Woojin would get into the limo and think he was heading back to a comfortable, nice night of sleep before another long flight, when in reality Chan was driving him to his demise. </p><p>
  <em>He couldn't wait.</em>
</p><p>The black limo pulled up in front of the hotel. </p><p>"He's here," Chan said, eye's boring a hole into the vehicles door, waiting for it to open, to see the face that haunted him every day, every night.</p><p>Woojin stepped out, body covered in a coat and hat. The driver collected his suitcase from the back, and Woojin took it from him, then headed inside. </p><p>Chan's blood felt like fire in his veins. He hadn't changed a bit. </p><p><em>"He's at the bar getting a drink,"</em> came Seungmin's voice, and Chan closed his eyes to imagine it. </p><p><em>"He just sat beside somebody. I can't see his face, in any of the cameras,"</em> Seungmin sounded distressed. Chan's eyes snapped open. </p><p>"He's what?" </p><p><em>"Fuck, CB. They're heading up together. This wasn't part of the plan,"</em> </p><p>"It's alright, Min. It won't change the plan unless this mystery person spends the day with him. Calm down, okay?" Chan said evenly, trying to calm down the younger. This day was important. He can't blame the younger for being worried about every little thing. </p><p><em>"...Yeah. Okay,"</em> Seungmin said after a minute, calming down, <em>"They're almost at the room, Han."</em></p><p><em>"Yep, they just entered. They-"</em> Jisungs voice cut off. Chan had a bad feeling. </p><p>
  <em>"Woojin pulled out a gun, CB. He's pointing it at him."</em>
</p><p>That wasn't good. Jisung seemed panicked. </p><p>"Calm down, Han. Just tell me what's happening, alright?" Chan asked, pushing down the dread that slowly filled his body. This was definitely not part of the plan. </p><p><em>"He's directing him to the kitchen. I think they know each other, they're talking,"</em> Jisung spoke quickly, then his breath hitched, <em>"Shit, they're fighting. The guy's holding his own pretty good. He-"</em> Jisung's voice cut off with a panicked gasp. Chan suddenly realized his heart was racing. </p><p>"What, Han?" </p><p>
  <em>"He got shot, Hyung. Woojin shot him. I don't think he's gonna make it. Woojin is saying something to him, he just left, Chan what do I do, I don't-"</em>
</p><p>"Breathe, Han. Calm down okay?" Chan stopped Jisung's inevitable rambling, not even bothering to remind him to use his code name. He was thankful everyone else stayed quiet so he could speak.</p><p><em>"We can't leave him to die, Hyung."</em> Jisung whispered. He paused, almost as if he was scared to continue. <em>"I know this might be our only opportunity for a long time, but we can't leave him to die. Not when we can save him."</em></p><p>Chan watched as Woojin exited the building, getting into his limousine. This could be their last chance to catch him, to get revenge. Their last chance to avenge their friend. </p><p>Chan pushed himself off of his motorcycle, and walked towards the hotel entrance after the limo took off down the street. </p><p>Jisung was right. </p><p>"Min. I'll need to check in to get past the foyer. Get me a room, now."</p><p>Seungmin let out a breathy laugh over Jisungs relieved sigh. <em>"On it, Hyung."</em></p><p>Chan entered the lobby, heading straight for the reception desk. </p><p>"Good afternoon!" The lady welcomed him. </p><p>
  <em>"Room name under Jung Yoonoh."</em>
</p><p>God bless Seungmin's quick hacking. </p><p>He gave the receptionist the fake name for a room on the third floor he wouldn't be using. He entered the elevator, and clicked the button for the top floor before the doors could even close. Hopefully he'd get there on time. </p><p>"Han, what's it look like?"</p><p>
  <em>"He isn't moving, Hyung. Please hurry. There's a lot of blood."</em>
</p><p>"Almost there, Han," Chan said as the elevator doors opened into the suite. Immediately, his nose was assaulted by a metallic, iron smell. Fuck, that was a lot of blood. </p><p>Chan quickly spotted the unconscious body lying on the ground off to the right, covered in blood. It would be impossible not to. The red against the white was such a dramatic contrast. Chan kneeled beside the body, feeling for a pulse. It was there, but it was feint. Chan cursed. There were two holes from the bullet, one being an exit wound. Covering both would be so much harder. He stripped off his hoodie, wrapping it around the side of his body he'd been shot, putting pressure on both sides. </p><p>He couldn't call an ambulance. Woojin would definitely find out if a bunch of drama stirred up about a person being shot in his room, and then he'd have his guard up. Chan swung his bag around, digging for his emergency supplies. He always made sure to have first aid on him during any job. </p><p>Quickly, Chan threaded and disinfected a needle and cotton swab. He'd have to do some impromptu surgery, and fast. </p><p>
  <em>
    <b>2:35 pm.</b>
  </em>
</p><p>Minho paced back and forth, biting at his nails in the lounge room, waiting for everyone to get back. He knew his pacing was making Seungmin, Jeongin, and Hyunjin nervous, but he couldn't help it.</p><p>His nerves had been going haywire ever since everything went wrong over the call. His knuckles hurt from where he had punched and put a hole in the wall. It pissed him off that they had to let Woojin go, But he fell even more in love with Jisung's kind heart at the same time. He was mad, but he was proud. It was the right thing to do. They'd get another chance. Eventually.</p><p>The door opened. Changbin, Jisung and Chan, carrying someone on his back, entered. Minho rushed over to help. </p><p>"I already prepared a room for him, follow," He said, and Chan did. </p><p>Minho helped Chan settle the boy down onto the bed. Minho Looked over at Chan.</p><p>"You should change," He said softly, eyeing his bloody clothes. </p><p>Chan glanced over at the boy, clearly hesitant to leave. </p><p>"Chan. Go change," Minho said a bit more sternly, and Chan finally left. Minho sighed, then sat beside the bed. He looked over to the unconscious body in the bed to finally get a good look of the person they saved. </p><p>Minho's eyes widened. <em>Holy Shit. It was him.</em></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So yeah, their mystery friends identity has been revealed. Sorry Yedam, I promise I love you :(</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. V</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"I don't want to be involved with whatever you're scheming," He said flat-out.</p><p> <br/>Minho shrugged, "I have no idea what you mean, Hyunjinnie."</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>short chapter from Hyunjin's point of view! I already have the next chapter written too ;')</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <b>February 8th, 7:40 pm</b>
  </em>
</p><p>
 When Chan had asked him to clean the stranger up once he was done re-doing his operation so it was actually done properly instead of rushed, Hyunjin only did so with minimal hesitation. Minho was still in the room, grinning like a dumbass with a plan up their sleeve, and Hyunjin almost walked right back out. Alas, his hyung had yanked him back in, still sporting that Cheshire Cat Grin, much to Hyunjin's displeasure. 
</p><p>
 "I don't want to be involved with whatever you're scheming," He said flat-out.
</p><p>
 Minho shrugged, "I have no idea what you mean, Hyunjinnie." 
</p><p>
  Hyunjin didn't believe him for a second. Hell, a three year old who hasn't experienced betrayal yet wouldn't of believed him. He went over to the bed, carefully picking up the unconscious stranger. "Whatever. Can you get some spare clothes? Chan asked me to clean him so he won't be covered in blood when he wakes up." 
</p><p>
  "Sure thing," Minho left with a wink. Hyunjin sighed, then pushed open the conjoined bathroom's door with his foot. He used his nose to flick on the light, then set the boy on the floor, leaned against the tub. He put in the plug, then turned on the warm water, sticking his hand into the stream to gauge the temperature. 
</p><p>
 Minho was back before the tub had filled up, setting the clothes on the bathroom counter before he sat on the toilet to keep Hyunjin company. Hyunjin turned off the water once it was filled a quarter of the way. Stitches couldn't get wet until a few days after getting them to avoid infection, so he'd have to give the stranger a sponge bath. "Can you pass me a cloth?" Hyunjin asked. Minho grabbed one from the rack, tossing it to him. Hyunjin caught it mid-air, then dropped it into the tub to soak up the water. 
</p><p>
 "Alright," He muttered to himself, turning towards the stranger. Carefully he began to strip him of his clothing, trying not to move him too much and irritate the stitches. Hyunjin could feel Minho's intense gaze on them the whole time, so he covered the strangers nude lower half with a towel. Even if he was unconscious, he doesn't think he'd be very happy when he woke up and found out they saw him in his birthday suit.<br/>
Hyunjin laid the stranger down on their back. He rang out the wet cloth, then gently began wiping the dried blood off his body. The area around the wound was mostly clean thanks to Chan disinfecting it, so he didn't have to worry about wiping too close and getting water in the wound. He had blood all over his front, even on his face. Hyunjin rang out the cloth as he cleaned, slowly turning the water in the tub a slight pink. 
</p><p>
 "You know that person I ran into on the Hartman job?" Minho suddenly spoke up, leaning forwards on the toilet, chin rested in his palm. Hyunjin almost forgot he was there.
</p><p>
  "The one who nearly murdered you? Why are you bringing that up now? It's been months" Hyunjin shot back, grabbing the strangers face to wipe blood off his cheek. He paused, staring at his face. The guy was cute. <em>Hella cute.</em> He could tell that when the blood was wiped off, he'd look a lot better. Hyunjin barely registered the words as he wiped off the blood, Slowly revealing an array of freckles underneath. There weren't any on the other side, though. Was he wearing makeup? Eagerly, Hyunjin wiped his whole face clean, broadcasting his freckles and clear skin in all their glory. Hyunjin just froze, in awe of the strangers beauty.
</p><p>
  Minho grinned, a glint in his eye, as if he knew what Hyunjin was thinking. Honestly, he probably did. He pointed to the stranger, "That's him. I want to recruit him." 
</p><p>
  Hyunjin's eyes widened in surprise. Talk about coincidence. He had thought Minho was crazy for getting stuck on an allegedly very attractive person who had been one wrong word away from snuffing out his life. It was ridiculous, honestly. To most people, or at least the sane ones, attempted murder was a deal breaker. 
</p><p>
  But, <em>god damn,</em> he understood now. And Minho was suddenly looking a lot less insane to him. 
</p><p>
  "Wait, you <em>WHAT?</em>"
</p><p>
 <em><b>February 10th, 4am.</b></em>
</p><p>
  Dear <em>God</em>, Hyunjin was going to murder whoever the fuck it was that was thundering through the halls and dared to wake him up.
</p><p>
  "Wait, stop running!" 
</p><p>
  Was that Jeongin? 
</p><p>
  Hyunjin threw open his door, ready to give him a piece of his mind, only to see him chasing a blur of blonde down the hallway. 
</p><p>
  Oh no. 
</p><p>
  Jisung (sporting some major bedhead) opened his door across from him, meeting his eyes curiously. It seemed he caught on quick, though, and next thing he knew they were chasing after Jeongin who was chasing after the stranger. Changbin, Minho and Chan joined them, and together they sprinted down the hallway like they were being gunned down, nearly tripping over each other. Something smashed in the kitchen. Hyunjin hoped the pretty stranger wasn't trashing their place. 
</p><p>
  They caught up to Jeongin at the stairs, skidding to a halt and crashing into each other at the bottom of the short flight of stairs as if they were straight out of a Looney Tunes episode. Hyunjin got an unpleasant Changbin elbow to the rib. 
</p><p>
  Hyunjin whipped his head towards the kitchen, only to see the stranger holding Seungmin at scissor point. Oh, jeez. 
</p><p>
  "Let me out," came the strangers deep, bewitching voice, and Hyunjin cursed the gods above.
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. VII</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>He yanked on his hostage to face them, Glaring at the group of strangers in warning. He got wide eyes and worried glances in return, pressing the tip of the scissors into the skin of his neck. </p><p>"Let me out," he demanded. The guy tensed in his arms, but didn't struggle.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Yeah so my fic still isn't popping up in the Lee Felix tag??? If anyone knows why AO3 is doing this to me pls help :(</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <b>February ???</b>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Felix finished the juice his mom had given him. Even though it tasted funny, he didn't complain. He carved a spot into the sand for the plastic cup to rest.</em>
</p><p>
  <em> "Felix, sweetie! Can you come here for a second?" His mom's voice called out from the back door.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Yeah!" Felix yelled back, smiling. He abandoned the sand castle he and his younger sister were making in the sandbox to run barefooted across the backyard to his mom.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>His mom brought him into a hug. Felix grinned. He missed his moms hugs. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I have somebody I would like you to meet, okay? Your older sister is already there," She said, stroking his hair as she led him to the front door where an unfamiliar man was standing. His vision felt fuzzy.</em>
</p><p>Felix opened his eyes. It was dark. At least it wasn't fuzzy.</p><p>He wasn't dead? Where was he? How long was he out for?</p><p>Felix slowly sat up, groaning as a sharp pain shot through his body. Whatever he was laying on had some give under his weight. He was in a bed. He wasn't in Woojin's hotel room. Why? </p><p>He looked around the unfamiliar room. It didn't seem like a hospital room, either. There wasn't a window he could look out of, so he had no idea what time of day it was. There was a glass of water and a bottle of painkillers beside the bed. Felix ignored them, despite the pain crawling up his side. Felix pulled his shirt up, barely registering that it wasn't his own. His abdomen was wrapped in gauze. Somebody had cleaned and dressed his wound. The sheets felt cool against his bare legs. Even the underwear he was wearing wasn't his own. Somebody had changed his clothes. And apparently bathed him, since he wasn't covered in his own blood anymore. His stomach churned at the thought.</p><p>Felix swung his legs over the side of the bed. He needed to get out. </p><p>He bit his lip to hold back a pained groan as he stood up on shaky legs, bed creaking under his weight. He walked over to the door and pressed his ear to it, listening for any movement on the other side. Nothing. Silently, he opened the door.</p><p>Only to be met with the sleeping face of an unfamiliar boy with pastel pink hair. Felix froze, unmoving, scared that any sort of action would wake him up. </p><p>It seems whoever this was had a sixth sense of some sort, though, because he woke up anyway. The boy's eyes lit up upon seeing him.</p><p>"Oh! You're awa-" </p><p>Felix bolted. He was in no condition to fight his way out. He'd have to run. He ignored the boy's startled yelling, turning a corner. He'd have to be quick - he had no idea how many people were around. With adrenalin thrumming through his veins, he was able to ignore his stitches screaming at him.</p><p>The house was big, and extravagant. Felix hoped he was going in the right direction. He went down a flight of stairs that opened up to a spacious open-floorplan room, skidding to a stop. Someone was in the kitchen behind him drinking water, staring at him with wide eyes. The door was a straight-shot in front of him, only there wasn't a door knob, which meant it was supposed to open a different way - most likely a password, considering the number pad on the wall. He wouldn't be able to go through it. He could hear the stampede of feet coming down the hallway. He'd have to be quick.</p><p>Without wasting a second Felix darted towards the kitchen, startling a yelp from the dark red-haired stranger. Felix jumped over the island counter to land beside him, swiping a pair of scissors sticking out of a wooden holder of appliances on the way. The guy stumbled away from him, glass falling to the ground and shattering into pieces. Felix grabbed his hand before he could run, twisting it behind him to hold him there, back to his chest. Felix held the point of the scissors up to his neck just as a group of people came sliding into the room, bumping into each other.</p><p>He yanked on his hostage to face them, glaring at the group of strangers in warning. He got wide eyes and worried glances in return, pressing the tip of the scissors into the skin of his neck. </p><p>"Let me out," he demanded, heart pounding. The guy tensed in his arms, but didn't struggle. </p><p>Someone with black hair stepped forwards, hands up to show he wasn't a threat. Felix wasn't fooled. "We aren't going to hurt you. Can you let him go?" </p><p>"I'm not an idiot," Felix hissed in response. The guy just shook his head. </p><p>"If you aren't an idiot, then you should know that if we wanted to hurt you, we wouldn't have saved you in the first place," he replied.</p><p>"People save others just so they can get information from them all the time," Felix retorted. The guy just sighed, crossing his arms with a disappointed look, and Felix felt like a kid being scolded. The guy looked over to the group, "Minho, how about you try?" </p><p>Felix didn't know how someone else negotiating would suddenly change his mind, if that's what they were hoping to accomplish. A boy with light brown hair stepped forward. Something about him was familiar. <em>Oh. "Care to join me in running away together?"</em></p><p>"Long time no see. Remember me?" Of course Felix remembered him. He wouldn't dare forget anything about that night. He lowered the scissors slightly, but didn't free his captive.</p><p>"...You changed your hair color," Felix finally said, raising an eyebrow. The guy broke into a grin, stepping forward. </p><p>"And you didn't," He said, now just lurking near the edge of the kitchen tiles. "My name is Minho. We've got to stop meeting under these circumstances." </p><p>"What do you mean?" Felix asked skeptically.

</p><p>Something flashed in Minho's eyes. "We were aiming for Woojin today, actually. I'm guessing you were there for the same reason we were." </p><p>Felix snorted. "Trying to steal my kill again, huh?" </p><p>"You're the one who stole from me!"</p><p>"Alright, alright, that's enough. Can you free our friend now, or do you still think we're bad people?" The guy with black hair asked.</p><p>Felix pursed his lips. He prided himself on being a good judge of character, and now that he knew they had attempted to kill two very bad people, Felix couldn't help but alter his initial opinion. That, and he just... Didn't feel threatened anymore. It was unusual. He couldn't see any sort of deception in their eyes.</p><p>One pregnant pause later, and Felix lowered the scissors, letting go of his hostage's wrist. Felix expected him to run over to his friends, but instead he just stepped away, rubbing his wrist with a pout. </p><p>Black haired dude grinned, all bright and kind with dimples showing. "Alright!" He clapped his hands together once, "how about we all sit down and talk, hmm?"</p><p>Talk? Like, together? With him? They're just gonna brush that whole thing under the rug? What the fuck?</p><p>The group seemed to move as one entity as they went over to the couches, mumbling amongst themselves. Confused, Felix took a step to follow the guy he probably traumatized, only for pain to flare up his side. He hissed, falling to his knees. Fuck. The gauze felt wet. He reopened his stitches. </p><p>His former captive gasped, kneeling beside him. "Are you okay? Chan!"</p><p>Dimples - Chan?- rushed over to his side as Felix reached under his shirt to assess the damage, pulling them back to see his finger tips stained red.</p><p>"I'm fine," he hissed as Chan picked him up, struggling out of his hold. </p><p>"Bullshit," Chan responded, "Seungmin, can you grab me the first aid kit?"</p><p>His former captive - now with a name - scampered off quickly as Chan carried him back to the room he was in before, followed by the rest. Their worried expressions did not go unnoticed by Felix, although he couldn't fathom why they would be worried. Chan set him on the bed, then lifted his shirt. The gauze had bled through, now leaving slight trails down his body. Seungmin came back with a box, setting it down on the bed beside Chan. Chan threw it open, pulling out a small pair of medical scissors, "Changbin, can you thread a needle ready for me?" He asked into the room, and a guy with dark silver hair parted down the side stepped forward to do as told while Chan cut through the gauze. </p><p>He sighed in relief, setting the scissors aside to grab a pair of tweezers. "lucky you, you only tore a few of them, surprisingly," he began to gently remove the ripped threads. It didn't hurt much, just felt uncomfortable. </p><p>"... Why are you guys being so nice?" Felix questioned. This entire situation was strange - for him, at least. Felix felt on edge. He had been on his own for a long time, cleaning his own wounds. From his experience, gangs weren't as kind to strangers as these people were to him. </p><p>Chan just looked at him curiously. "Do we need a reason? We saw somebody was in trouble and needed help," He stated as if it was the most natural thing in the world, "Plus, Minho has a soft spot for you." </p><p>A what now? </p><p>Felix glanced over at Minho. Whatever Minho saw in his expression made him grin. "Guilty as charged. You left quite the impression on me that first time we met." </p><p>"I threatened to slit your throat," Felix recalled, bewildered. If anything, that impression should make Minho hate him. Chan wiped down the wound with disinfectant, then took the needle from Changbin.</p><p>Minho just shrugged. The pastel pink haired kid who had been posted outside his door stepped forward, "he wouldn't stop talking about you for like, an entire week. His eyes this, his lips that." </p><p>"Brat," Minho glared at the kid for exposing him, but didn't actually seem all that upset about it. </p><p>"This is going to hurt," Chan said, pressing the needle to his pinched skin, looking up at him as if he was waiting for Felix's approval. </p><p>"I don't think it'll hurt much more than getting shot," Felix replied, pulling another blinding grin from Chan. He clenched his teeth together, face twisting in pain as Chan pushed the needle through his skin, twisting the bedsheets in his hands, biting back a pained groan. It stung, a lot, but he had faced worse before.</p><p>Once he was done, he urged Felix to roll over onto his front so he could check the stitches in his back. Felix did so hesitantly. Even if he wasn't wary of these people harming him anymore, turning his back to them still made him nervous. He could tell by Chan's wince that it didn't look good. Felix turned his head to the side to rest against the pillow instead of craning his neck to look over his shoulder uncomfortably as Chan fixed them.</p><p>"Done! You should take some painkillers," Chan said once it was finally over, guiding him to sit up so he could re-wrap his abdomen. The pink haired boy handed him the glass of water and a pill from the desk. Felix inspected it carefully, then deemed it safe to swallow. He downed the entire glass of water, then the boy took his glass from him as Chan packed away his supplies. </p><p>"Ah! We haven't introduced ourselves yet," Chan said, "You know Minho already and have probably picked up on some others, but we'll tell you formally anyway. I'm Chan, the leader."</p><p>Pinky spoke next. "Jeongin. Nice to meet you!" </p><p>A boy with pudgy cheeks and dark blue hair stepped forwards. "I'm Jisung!" </p><p>Changbin leaned over to look past Chan, meeting his eyes. "Changbin."</p><p>A guy with shoulder-length bleached hair and a prince-like face waved with a smile. "Hyunjin." </p><p>And then finally his former puppy-faced hostage introduced himself. "Seungmin." </p><p>They all looked at him expectantly, and Felix realized they were waiting for him to introduce himself as well. He bit his lip, then decided it wouldn't hurt. </p><p>"Felix."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. VII</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"What is it?" He asked, voice softer than when he was awake. </p><p>"I wanna cuddle. I can't sleep," Jisung made sure to use his best puppy eyes, even though he knew Changbin wouldn't actually turn him away.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jisung honestly wasn't expecting to partake in an opposite day version of tag in the middle of the night, but he guesses he should learn to cease having expectations all together. </p><p>Needless to say, he couldn't stop thinking about it. They had all gone back to their rooms 20 minutes ago to leave Felix alone, yet he still can't sleep. </p><p>Felix seems to have an affinity for pointing sharp objects at his teammates necks. Of course he felt scared for Seungmin (like a good teammate), but he couldn't help but be extremely impressed as well. He understood why Minho suggested to Chan that they recruit him the other day. Aside from their similar target demographics, Felix was skilled. It was obvious in the way he moved, his quick thinking, in his eyes. </p><p>To put it simply, Jisung thought it was hot. He had no right to be that attractive while smashing their cups. </p><p>Jisung dragged a hand down his face, groaning to himself. He wouldn't be able to sleep like this. </p><p>Jisung flipped his blanket off and padded across the room to Changbin's bed. He was already fast asleep, hiding under the blankets completely. Jisung got onto his knees beside the bed, crossing his arms over top of it. "Binnie-Hyung," he whispered, reaching out to poke a lump under the comforter he assumed was his shoulder. Of course, Changbin didn't even react. </p><p>Jisung huffed, cheeks puffing out. "Binnie-hyung," he tried, a little louder, shaking his shoulder. </p><p>That earned him a muffled groan. The lump moved around, then Changbin's head popped out, hair messy. </p><p>"What is it?" He asked, voice softer than when he was awake. </p><p>"I wanna cuddle. I can't sleep," Jisung made sure to use his best puppy eyes, even though he knew Changbin wouldn't actually turn him away. </p><p>Changbin sighed, lifting the blanket up in a welcome. Jisung grinned, crawling into the bed. He got comfortable against Changbin's side. Changbin didn't complain when he threw his arm over his chest, nuzzling his head into his shoulder, and Jisung was grateful.</p><p>"What do you think of recruiting Felix?" Jisung whispered. </p><p>Changbin hummed, slowly dragging his finger tips across Jisungs back in thought. "I'm not sure. I don't think it would be a bad idea. I guess I'm just worried because we don't know him very well."</p><p>Jisung turned his head to stare at his profile. "Not because he almost killed two of our members?" </p><p>"We can't blame him for that. With Minho he was just being cautious. But tonight he was just scared. He woke up in somebody else's house and felt unsafe. You can't get upset when you corner a wild animal and their only option left is to attack you," Changbin tilted his head slightly to look at Jisung, and Jisung took the opportunity to plant a kiss on his chin. </p><p>"Do you think Chan-hyung is going to ask him?" </p><p>Changbin closed his eyes, voice quieter then before, "probably. Chan has a habit of picking up strays, remember?"</p><p>Jisung snorted, rolling his eyes fondly. His smile soon faded, though. Jisung bit his lip. "Do you think..." He trails off, unsure. Sensing his hesitation, Changbin opens his eyes.</p><p>"What?" He prods. </p><p>"Do you think Chan is mad at me? For convincing him to let Woojin go?" Jisung hates that his voice quivers, tears pricking his eyes at finally having voiced his doubts out loud. Changbin frowns, turning onto his side to face him completely. </p><p>"Of course not," Changbin assures without hesitation, cupping his face in his hands, "Chan would never be mad at you for wanting to save somebody that was in trouble, Sungie. We love that about you. Besides, we'll get another chance at Woojin eventually."</p><p>Jisung closed his eyes, burying his face in his chest as tears rolled down his cheeks. "Okay," he whispered, using Changbin's shirt to wipe his eyes. Changbin didn't complain. </p><p>"Go to sleep, Sungie. You don't have to feel guilty for anything." </p><p>Jisung nodded, falling asleep to a hand running through his hair.</p><p>
  <em>
    <b>February 11th, 10 am.</b>
  </em>
</p><p>Through the foggy haze of being half awake, Jisung could feel Changbin removing himself from his hold. He whined, waving his arms around blindly to try and grab on to him and drag him back. Changbin chuckled. </p><p>"Go back to sleep Jisung," Changbin said softly. </p><p>"S' no point," Jisung grumbled, lifting his head off the pillow. It takes him a minute to find his hyung in the room, facing him with tired eyes and messy bed hair. Changbin had just finished dressing himself, pulling on a black graphic t-shirt.</p><p>"I think the others are making breakfast right now," Changbin mentioned, knowing it would kick Jisung into action. As expected, Jisung suddenly looked much more awake. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and slid out of the bed, reminiscent of a sack of slime. Changbin waited patiently until Jisung dressed himself so they could head to the kitchen together. </p><p>As they got closer, Jisung could smell bacon cooking, along with panicked talking. Jisung knew before he even entered the kitchen that it would be a disaster. It always was. </p><p>He was right. Seungmin was hunched over the island, head in his palms in either defeat or embarrassment for being associated with them. Probably both. Chan and Jeongin were fussing over the bacon, trying to fish each piece out of the pan before they could burn with the tongs from a distance, scared the grease would pop and burn their hands every time they dropped a piece back into the pan because they chickened out. It was just an endless cycle of burnt meat and terrified yelling. Minho and Hyunjin were on pancake duty, and they actually looked like they were turning out pretty well, despite juggling watching the batter and mocking Chan and Jeongin at the same time. </p><p>Jisung wondered how their group survived. </p><p>"Good morning," he greeted, slipping onto one of the bar stools on the opposite side of the island as Seungmin. Changbin decided to aid Chan and Jeongin, but Jisung knew that wouldn't actually improve the situation because Changbin is the most helpless out of all of them when it comes to the culinary arts. </p><p>Seungmin looked up at Jisungs voice. "Sometimes I wonder how we get anything done." </p><p>Jisung just nodded is resigned agreement. </p><p>A chaotic twenty minutes, a lot of panicking, and plenty of burnt bacon later, they had breakfast laid out on the island. They took turns dishing up and passing the whipped cream and syrup back and forth (Jeongin ended up with a glob of whipped cream on his nose courtesy of Hyunjin).</p><p>"So, Chan," Minho started, using a fork to eat his bacon like a heathen, "what do you think of Felix?"</p><p>Everyone looked towards Chan curiously, who was swallowing a mouth full of pancake. "I want to offer him a place on the team. Are you okay with that, Seungmin?" </p><p>Seungmin raised an eyebrow, shrugging lightly, "It's your decision, Chan." </p><p>"He attacked you last night, though. Plus, we're a team. I might be the leader, but for decisions like these it's up to all of us." </p><p>Seungmin smiled fondly, shaking his head. "I'm okay with it, Chan. I don't hold that against him. Any of us would've done the same thing." </p><p>Chan grinned, "good! I'm not going to ask him right away, though. He seems really flighty." </p><p>"'Seems,'" Hyunjin repeats sarcastically, "don't you mean extremely?" </p><p>"Anyway," Jisung pipes in, stuffing the last of his food into his mouth, "I'm going to get him some food. There's no way he isn't hungry." </p><p>"Good idea. He's been out for two days," Chan responds as Jisung grabs another plate from the cupboard. Jisung dishes it up, adding extra whipped cream on top. He also fills up another glass of water, then throws up a peace out sign as he leaves the kitchen. </p><p>Jisung cracks the door to Felix's room open quietly just in case he's still asleep, which he is. Jisung sets the plate and water on the desk beside the empty glass from last night. He almost doesn't want to wake him up - he looks so peaceful and pretty. </p><p>"Felix, wake up," He says, standing a good distance away in case he startles him and Felix decides to use the fork on the plate to mark his third offense against one of their throats. Felix's eyes snap open and he looks around, but he doesn't jump up, which is an improvement. </p><p>"I brought you food. Just pretend the bacon isn't charred," Jisung waits for him to sit up before handing him his plate. Jisung decides to get comfortable and sit cross legged at the foot of his bed. Felix eyes the plate suspiciously, stomach growling at the sight of food. Even though he's obviously hungry, he doesn't pick up the fork. </p><p>"We didn't poison it, if that's what you're thinking," Jisung watches as Felix shakes his head. </p><p>"... I know. I'm just not used to this," Felix responds in a small voice, and Jisung feels a twinge in his heart. </p><p>"Not used to what?" He asks. </p><p>"Being taken care of," Felix finally picks up the fork and cuts the pancake up with it. His face is blank as he eats, but his eyes are sad. Jisung feels the overwhelming urge to hug him. </p><p>"Are you feeling any better now? You've been out for like, two days," Jisung says, knowing their guest most likely had no idea what day it was, "your wound was pretty bad. You shouldn't move around for a while. Chan said nothing major was hit, so it should only take a few weeks heal." </p><p>Felix doesn't look up from his food, "I'll get out of your guys' hair."</p><p>Jisung sputters, looking up at him incredulously, "No, you won't. I just said that you shouldn't be moving around." </p><p>Felix meets his eyes, and all Jisung can see in them is confusion. It pains his heart to see Felix is so bewildered at the prospect of people taking care of him. "I've already been intruding for long enough," He says. </p><p>"You aren't intruding. We chose to bring you here, and we are also choosing to let you stay," Jisung says with finality. Felix looks like he wants to say something more, but bites his lip instead. </p><p>Jisung smiles, "you should finish your food. I'll keep you company."</p><p>He watches as Felix eats, scarfing down the food quickly. Jisung would've worried about him making himself sick, but again, Felix hadn't eaten in days. Once he was done he set his plate back down on the table. "I'll be right back," Jisung says, remembering the antibiotics Chan went out and purchased for Felix the other day. He rifled around in the bathroom cupboards, reading off labels until he found them. "Ah ha!" He exclaims in victory, tossing the bottle to a confused Felix, "Now that you've eaten, you should take one of those. They're to prevent infections." </p><p>Felix reads off the label, then cracks open the bottle. He plucks out one of the pills and swallows it, taking a swig of water from the glass on the desk to wash it down. "Thanks," Felix says, capping the bottle and switching it out for the painkillers. He takes one of those as well, finishes off his water, and sets everything back on the desk.</p><p>"What are some of the things you like to do? You're probably bored as hell right now," Jisung questions, "we could play a game together, if you want."</p><p>"Huh?" Felix looks confused again, as if he didn't expect them to do anything but what's necessary to take care of him, much less something that most would consider a bonding activity. Surely, Jisung's heart won't be able to take much more of this. </p><p>"I guess I like video games," Felix finally answers. Jisung jumps off the bed with a grin.</p><p>"Great! I have a Switch. Give me a minute," Jisung runs to his own room, then returns with his Switch in record time, startling Felix as he claims a spot right next to him on the bed against the headboard, "What do you want to play? Mariokart?" </p><p>"Sure." Jisung turns it on, handing Felix the red controller. He picks King Boo while Felix picks Rosalina.</p><p>"Which map?" Jisung slowly scrolled through each one as he waited for Felix to make a decision. </p><p>"Rainbow Road, obviously," He says, and Jisung grins at the relaxed manner he said it, glad Felix had stopped questioning everything. </p><p>"I'm going to kick your ass. Prepare to lose," Jisung challenges, smirking as it begins the countdown. </p><p>"You wish," Felix replies, and Jisung thinks he sees the hint of a smile on his face.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. VIII</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Parts of himself he thought were lost were slowly coming back to him. He couldn't remember the last time he enjoyed anybody's company, much less a group of people's company.</p><p>He was unsettled. And admittedly a little thankful - But he really wanted to leave the room.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <b>February 25th, Felix.</b>
  </em>
</p><p>Felix had no idea what to think. </p><p>For one, these people were really nice, despite everything that's happened so far. He found himself genuinely enjoying Jisungs company thirty minutes into their Mariokart battle, and not once did Jisung do or say anything to make him uncomfortable (aside from how warm feeling his arm pressed against his made him feel). Throughout the next few weeks, the members would come into to the room to hang out with him, and Felix ended up relaxing. Jeongin was cute, Seungmin was witty, Jisung was goofy, Hyunjin was talkative, Changbin was chill, Minho was flirty, and Chan was kind. Felix was a professional at knowing when people were being insincere or playing him, and these people certainly were not doing either of those things.</p><p>Although he knew all of that, it still concerned him how quickly he came to relax around these people. He didn't trust them, not quite yet - but he thinks he <em>could,</em> and that was scary.</p><p>Parts of himself he thought were lost were slowly coming back to him. He couldn't remember the last time he enjoyed anybody's company, much less a group of people's company.</p><p>He was unsettled. And admittedly a little thankful - But he really wanted to leave the room.</p><p>It's been over two weeks since he was shot, and Felix felt antsy. He was healing pretty good, he could stand by himself and take actual showers now. He wanted to explore the house. </p><p>Felix changed into a borrowed hoodie and sweats before exiting the room.</p><p>The thing about their house was that it was like a mansion. All the ceilings were high, the hallways were wide, and the architecture was beautiful. He knew that in the main room there was another flight of steps that curved and lead to a loft room above the kitchen, where you could look down at everyone below. Since he already went that way once, he decided to go the opposite way. he went up to the second floor. There was an alternate way to the loft up here, and more rooms. at some point the hallway opened up and turned into a balcony-situation, looking over another large room with games, beanbags a fancy bar, a large T.V. and comfortable looking couches. Through a sliding glass window, he could see a jacuzzi on the wooden deck. He went down the stairs into the room, looking around. Over to the right was a ladder propped against the wall, leading up to a decorative alcove about four meters high with a fancy looking angled window. Warm light was streaming down into the room from it, Dust particles sparkling. There also seemed to be a blanket hanging over the edge, and what looked like... fairy lights, and the upper body of Jeongin? </p><p>"Jeongin?" He questioned aloud, grabbing the younger boy's attention. Jeongin looked down at him, and Felix was even more surprised when he also saw Seungmin. </p><p>"Felix! What are you doing out of bed?" Jeongin worriedly asked, leaning over the edge of the alcove to talk to him better. </p><p>"I wanted to explore a bit," Felix explained, eyebrow still raised, "What are you doing up there?" </p><p>"He sleeps here," Seungmin waved his hand, ignoring how that did absolutely nothing to quell his concern, "want to come up? It might be a little bit of a tight fit, though." </p><p>"Oh, yeah! Come on up," Jeongin said, smiling widely, and Felix hated how he couldn't say no. </p><p>Next thing he knew, he was at the top of the ladder, questioning how he would fit. Seungmin and Jeongin moved closer to the wall until they were pressed right up against each other, leaving enough room for Felix. Felix hesitated. He'd also be pressed against Jeongin so parts of his body wouldn't be peeking over the edge.</p><p>He still wasn't sure how he felt about skin ship. He hadn't had the best experiences in his lifetime when it came to that sort of thing, but every time one of the members would touch him, it always felt so gentle and comforting. It made him feel warm. But those were just little touches - arm brushes, hair ruffles, knee rubs, the like. If he decided to join them, His entire body would be pressed against Jeongin. </p><p>It seems the two must've sensed his dillema. "You don't have to if you don't want to," Jeongin said. </p><p>The thing about that phrase is that people rarely meant it whole-heartedly. They'd say that, but then they'd pout, or give you a <em>look,</em> Or try to guilt you, or you knew they'd hold a little bit of a grudge. Felix couldn't see any of that in Jeongin or Seungmin. </p><p>So, he joined them. He was tense at first as he settled against Jeongin, who rearranged his laptop they had been watching Youtube videos on so they could all see the screen. Jeongin waited for Felix to settle down before he started the video, and if he noticed how tense Felix was, he didn't say anything about it. </p><p>Felix was shocked to find that after a couple minutes, he had relaxed completely, head leaning on Jeongin's shoulder. It was cozy and warm up here - he understood why Jeongin liked this space. He was also surprised to find that he actually <em>enjoyed</em> cuddling like this. </p><p>"What are you guys watching?" Felix asked. He didn't recognize the video. </p><p>"Buzzfeed unsolved true crime," Seungmin answered, "It's really funny. We like to bingewatch it every now and then. Jeongin could probably recite it word for word." </p><p>"How impressive," Felix joked good-naturedly. He could see Jeongin roll his eyes in the reflection of the screen. </p><p>Felix has no idea how long they laid there, cuddled up and watching Unsolved, but at some point he started to drift off. He tried to stay awake, he really did, but it was just so comfortable up here. It felt safe.</p><p>
  <em>
    <b>February 25th, Jeongin.</b>
  </em>
</p><p>Jeongin felt like he was on cloud nine. </p><p>Felix had fallen asleep against him over ten minutes ago, and Jeongin was overjoyed that Felix felt comfortable enough with him and Seungmin to fall asleep in their presence. Over his healing period, Felix slowly opened up to them - it was like he transformed right in front of their eyes. Before he was defensive and secretive and held them at arms length, but now he looked livelier, happier. He talked with them and joked around and his smile warmed their hearts. When they got back from jobs, he'd ask them how they went and if they were okay. They found out he was Australian (that made Chan very excited), that he liked video games and animals and sweets, and he could make mosquito noises with his mouth. It's safe to say all of them developed a bit of a soft spot for him.</p><p>But Felix still always looked lonely to Jeongin, like he was scared to get too close to them, even if he was slowly coming to care about them. He wanted Felix to know he was safe with them, because to be blunt, it was clear in his behavior that he was pretty deeply traumatized. He wondered how someone could live with hurting somebody as sweet as Felix.</p><p>So this was definitely progress. Felix was clinging onto him in his sleep, looking like an angel in the sunlight, and Jeongin just wanted to shower him in kisses and keep him safe from everything bad in the world. He was barely focusing on the video. </p><p>"He's asleep?" Seungmin whispers, leaning forward a bit to see Felix's face. </p><p>"Yeah," Jeongin whispers back, "Has been for a while." </p><p>"Jeongin! Have you seen-" Came Chan's voice, and jeongin looked over to see Chan leaning against the hallway railing. Felix stirs against him, and Jeongin quickly waves a hand to signal Chan to shut the fuck up. Chan seems confused as he comes down the stairs and heads over to them, standing at the foot of the ladder. </p><p>"Is that Felix?" He raises an eyebrow, climbing the ladder to see them properly. </p><p>"Yep. He fell asleep, so be quiet," Jeongin whispers, Chan's face now level with theirs as he stood at the top of the ladder.</p><p>"So this is where he was. I thought he might've ran away when I didn't see him in his room," Chan grins, gazing at Felix with a fond look in his eyes, "I'm surprised he's still asleep after I yelled like that. Usually he wakes up at any sort of noise." </p><p>"True. Maybe he's just really comfortable?" Seungmin ponders.</p><p>Chan shrugged, while Jeongin furrowed his eyebrows. It was probably true that Felix was just comfortable, but that didn't seem quite right to Jeongin. Jeongin lifted his hand to run it through Felix's soft blonde hair. Felix's mouth fell open slightly in a pleased sigh, and tension Jeongin had no idea Felix was still holding in his body slipped away. <em>Ah, so thats it. He was touch-starved.</em></p><p>Jeongin grinned to himself, earning curious looks from Chan and Seungmin. </p><p>"What are you smiling about?" Chan questioned, suspicious. </p><p>"Nothing much. Just thinking," Jeongin brushed it off, not quite wanting to share his little revelation yet in case he was wrong. Chan raised an eyebrow, and Seungmin rolled his eyes, clearly not believing him.</p><p>"Well, whatever. I'm going on a job with Changbin and Jisung." </p><p>"Do you need one of us?" Seungmin asks, and Chan shakes his head, smiling.</p><p>"No, we'll be fine. Just keep enjoying your cuddle pile," Chan bid them farewell as he descended the ladder, then disappeared up the stairs and into the hallway. </p><p>They turned their attention back onto the video. Jeongin kept petting Felix's head, feeling the slow rise and fall of his chest against his arm. He really hoped Felix would join them when Chan finally approached the topic.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>yeah so Jeongin and Seungmin are Unsolved fans, as they should be</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. IX</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"Felix, what's wrong? You left so suddenly, the others are worried," He says, stepping closer. </p><p>"That's the problem," Felix lets slip, and he bites his tongue to stop himself. He doesn't want to talk about this. He doesn't know how.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <b>February 25th, Felix.</b>
  </em>
</p><p>Felix slowly woke up feeling significantly more content then he ever had been before. He groaned as he indulged in the solid but comfortable thing he was using as a pillow, nuzzling his face into it. </p><p>Then he remembered where he was. </p><p>He opened his eyes and shot up off of Jeongin's body, looking around wildly. The voices of Ryan and Shane were still playing on the laptop, but Jeongin and Seungmin had fallen asleep as well. The light shining down on them was dimmer now, and Felix looked up through the window to see the color of the sky was changing to pinks, oranges and purples. How long had he been sleeping here?</p><p>Felix decided to ignore the sense of loss he felt when he pulled away from Jeongin, deciding to revisit why he didn't quite want to leave later. Probably never. Never sounds good. </p><p>Perhaps, Felix was panicking a little bit. He turned off Jeongin's laptop and closed it before climbing down the ladder.</p><p>When he turned around after stepping off the ladder, Felix startled - He had been too distracted to realize Minho and Jisung were playing a videogame together on the large flat screen t.v. silently, whispering back and forth to each other. Jisung was sitting on the couch, feet up on the table, which was covered in a variety of snacks and drinks. Minho had pulled one of the beanbags over, holding a can of pop between his legs. </p><p>They hadn't noticed him yet, and he didn't know what to do. Should he interact? Just leave? </p><p>Before he realized it, he was standing behind the couch. "Is that Little Big Planet?" Felix says, breaking the near silence. Their heads whip around in surprise, and maybe his heart did a little Thing when they broke out into cute, warm smiles. </p><p>"You're awake!" Jisung says, then fumbles to pause the game, "Were we too loud? I'm sorry if we woke you up. You guys looked so peaceful and cute." </p><p>Felix was quick to correct him, waving his hands, "no no no, you didn't wake me up, don't worry." </p><p>"That's good. Want to sit with us?" Minho asks, gesturing to the couch, "We have more remotes if you want to play as well."</p><p>Jisung was grabbing another remote from the shelves under the t.v. before Felix could even agree. He rounded the L-shaped couch to sit in the corner as Jisung handed him the remote. </p><p>They were just about to start another level (this time with Felix) when a bruise on Jisungs cheek caught his attention. He furrowed his eyebrows, "Jisung, what happened?" </p><p>Jisung just hummed in confusion, tilting his head. Felix gestured to his own face, mirroring where the bruise on Jisung's was. His mouth fell open in understanding. </p><p>"Just got back from a job, don't worry Lix. It doesn't hurt," Jisung smiles in reassurance, "I'm okay."</p><p>Felix bites his lip, and Jisung's eyes seem to follow the action. Felix turns towards the screen, "if you're sure."</p><p>"It makes me happy to know you care about me, Lix," Jisung cooed with a teasing lilt to his voice. </p><p>"Jisung, pay attention! The level is starting, we need you over here," Minho piped in, startling Jisung into action. </p><p>"So, Felix," Minho started. They'd been playing for a little over an hour now, and Felix was really enjoying himself. "How are you feeling? I'm guessing pretty good since you can walk around now." </p><p>"Yeah, slowly but surely. But it hasn't fully healed yet. Probably another couple weeks until I'm back at my best," Felix ponders, focusing on the screen as their characters work together to get through the level. He cuts Minho off and collects a big bubble of points before he could, earning a groan from the older, "It still hurts a little bit, but not nearly as bad as before. The stitches itch though. It's annoying." </p><p>"I'll bet. One time I got stabbed in the arm, gave Chan and Jisung heart attacks. The stitches were easily the worst part though, it's such a pain trying not to scratch them," Minho agrees. </p><p>Felix hums, noticing that Jisung had gone silent. His character had stopped moving, and they both looked over to see he was lost in thought. </p><p>"Ji, what is it?" Minho asks. </p><p>Jisung purses his lips, glancing over at Felix, uncertainty in his eyes. "Felix, do you mind if I ask you something?"</p><p>"Depends on what that 'something' is," Felix says warily. </p><p>"...Nevermind, forget it," Jisung backtracks, shaking his head as he returns to playing the game, "it doesn't matter."</p><p>Felix shares a glance with Minho. He knows he's lying but something tells him that Jisung wanted to ask something serious. He wasn't quite sure he wanted to know what it was. </p><p>They went back to playing the game, but the mood had been slightly dampened. At least, until the rest showed up bickering about their dream dodgeball team lineups (<em>"I'm telling you, Spiderman is superior, he can just grab balls out of the air with his webs" "listen, Hyunjin-" "Guys shut up, the young ones are probably still asleep-")</em>, effectively waking Jeongin and Seungmin up in the process. </p><p>"Where'd Lix go?" Came Seungmin's sleepy voice, poking his head out while Jeongin just cursed them out. Felix peeked his head up over the couch, waving to get his attention. Seungmin eagerly climbed over Jeongin to descend the ladder and join him on the couch. </p><p>"Sorry for waking you guys up, Seungmin," Chan apologized sheepishly, claiming the end of the short part of the L-couch at Felix's feet. Hyunjin sat beside Seungmin, while Changbin pulled the other bean bag over beside Minho. </p><p>"You gonna join us, Jeongin?" Changbin asked, looking up at the youngest. Jeongin grumbled, and after a minute he was filling up the last free space on the couch between Hyunjin and Jisung. </p><p>"There's room for one more player, if anyone wants to join," Minho says, and Changbin and Chan race for it. The shorter gets there a second earlier, holding it up over his head to keep it away, momentarily forgetting that he was shorter than all of them. Chan snorts as Changbin blushes in embarrassment. </p><p>"Don't look at me," Changbin says, and then they all burst out laughing. </p><p>Felix's laughter calms down, replaced by a fond smile as he watches the group tease Changbin. Jisung meets his eyes from the other side of the couch and blows him a kiss, and Felix is suddenly hit with the feeling of belonging. It hits him so hard, so suddenly, and he just - he's overwhelmed. He needs to separate himself. </p><p>Felix stands up abruptly, startling Hyunjin beside him. "Where are you going?" He asks. </p><p>"Water," Felix provides weakly, considering there's a bar with water available only ten steps away, and disappears up the stairs into the hallway. </p><p>He doesn't know what to do. He feels like he's walking aimlessly, ends up back in his room. He paces back and forth, teasing his thumb nail between his teeth. </p><p>He likes these people. They make him feel welcome and wanted. They're kind, funny, and caring. They're the best people Felix has ever met, and he doesn't know what to do about it. </p><p>His door opens and Felix's head snaps to face the direction the noise came from, eyes settling on Chan in the doorway.</p><p>"Felix, what's wrong? You left so suddenly, the others are worried," He says, stepping closer. </p><p>"That's the problem," Felix lets slip, and he bites his tongue to stop himself. He doesn't want to talk about this. He doesn't know how. </p><p>Chan's face falls as he approaches Felix. Felix steps back, unsure, but Chan keeps approaching. "What are you-" Felix is cut off by arms surrounding him, pulling him close. He protests, tries to pull away, but Chan doesn't let go, and his heart is racing, his hands are shaking, and he just <em>doesn't know.</em> </p><p>"Felix," Chan says softly, and Felix focuses his eyes on the wall over Chan's shoulder, "are you scared of us?" </p><p>"I-" Felix's throat tightens, eyes watering, "no. Yes. I don't know."</p><p>"We care about you, Felix, we really do," Chan says, and his voice sounds so close, so soft, "can you try to tell me what's scaring you?" </p><p>Felix shakes his head. "You guys are so nice to me," his voice quivers, biting his lip until it hurts, "I've never- No one's- I don't know what to do. It feels wrong."</p><p>Chan's arms tighten around him, "It feels wrong for us to be nice to you?" </p><p>"For me to like it, and want it," Felix whispers as tears finally fall down his cheeks, soaking the shoulder of Chan's t-shirt, "you guys are nice and you feel safe and I'm terrified because I've never felt this way before." </p><p>Felix feels Chan swallow, running a hand up and down his back. "Oh, Lix. You deserve to always feel safe and happy, okay? You're such a good person. I don't know what happened to you in the past, but I <em>do</em> know that you didn't deserve any of it," Felix chokes back a sob, burying his face into Chan's shoulder, "you have no idea how much we adore you already, Lix. You have nothing to be scared of when it comes to us. We'll always be here for you, okay?"</p><p>Felix lifts his shaking arms, wraps them around Chan's waist, clenching his shirt between his fingers. "Okay," he says, voice raw in his throat. One of Chan's hands are running through his hair. He smells nice, like coffee and vanilla. Chan gently rocks them back and forth as Felix cries into his shoulder, heart wrenching sobs filling the room.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. X</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>That seemed to catch Felix's attention. "What are you planning?" He asked knowingly.</p><p>Chan just sent him a sly look. "A takedown. Care to participate?"</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>woo Felix's stitches are finally out!</p><p>chapter 9 be like,,,,<br/>y'all: uwu Felix is happy awe look at him go<br/>me: but what if I hurt him a bit more lmao</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <b>February 25th, Felix.</b>
  </em>
</p><p>At some point, Chan had transferred them to the bed, laying on their sides, facing each other. Felix was playing with Chan's hand, eyes red and puffy, to occupy himself while he calmed down from his breakdown. </p><p>"Felix," Chan broke the silence, just watching their hands, "I was going to ask you this once you were healed, but now seems like a better time." </p><p>"What is it?" Felix glances up. </p><p>"Want to join our gang? From what we've seen and from what Minho's told us, you're really talented," Chan smiles, and Felix's eyes are drawn to the crescents of his eyes, surprised, "Plus, as I've said - We really like having you around. We would probably be heart broken if you decided to leave, honestly." </p><p>Felix freezes. He wasn't... against the idea, honestly, and not as scared as he was before after talking to Chan. He was right - He didn't have anything to be scared of when it came to them. He didn't have to be scared of finally finding people who cared about him, for real. He could just enjoy it, and finally try to heal.</p><p>Felix swiped his tongue over his bitten-red lower lip. "Yeah," he agreed, voice feeling tight in his throat, "I'd like that. I'd really like that." </p><p>Chan broke into a grin, pulling him back into a hug, except this time his face was shoved into his chest. He couldn't help but let out a hoarse laugh at Chan's hyper response, "that's good! I'm really happy!" </p><p>Chan ruffled his hair as they sat up. "I gotta tell the others. They'll be so excited," Felix smiled softly at the other Australian, "here, lets go wash your face. You look like a mess." </p><p>"Rude," Felix scoffed fondly, rolling his eyes. He walked into the bathroom and wet a cloth with warm water in the sink, then gently wiped the dried tears from his face with it. He could see Chan watching from the doorway in the mirror. Felix set the cloth on the counter once he was done, turning around to see Chan holding his hand out for him. </p><p>Felix took it shyly, then Chan led them out to go rejoin the others. </p><p>Once they got back, everyone went silent, casting Felix's red face worried glances. Felix met Jisung's gaze, mouthing 'I'm okay' to comfort him. Jisung seemed to calm down significantly, now just curious. He looked down at Felix and Chan's conjoined hands, then smirked at Felix. Felix looked away, glad his face was already red.</p><p>"Guess what," Chan said in a sing-song tone. Felix could tell by the twitch in his jaw that he was holding back a smile.</p><p>"What, Chan?" Changbin said impatiently. </p><p>"Felix said he'll join us," Chan proclaimed, earning wide eyes from the rest. Felix was too nervous to meet their gazes. </p><p>"Really? That's great!" Jisung's face broke out into a grin, jumping off of the couch to stand in front of Felix. He took his hands, guiding him forwards away from Chan with waddle-like steps, "I'm so excited. You're like, my soulmate, dude." </p><p>Jisung's wide smile was infectious - Felix couldn't fight back a wide smile of his own at the positive response. The rest of the group burst into excitement, jumping up to join them. Minho came up behind jisung and crushed him between them, wrapping his arms around Felix's shoulders. Jisung complained about being suffocated, but his protests soon became muffled as everyone else joined in on the group hug. </p><p>Felix laughed along with them, accepting the hug with booming laughter. Minho leaned over Jisung, who was no longer complaining, to speak to Felix directly. </p><p>"Looks like you ended up joining us after all," Minho teased, calling back to his offer he made to Felix the first time they met. Felix rolled his eyes, giggling at the stupid joke. This was nice. Hugging like this warmed him at a bone-deep level, and Felix didn't think he'd trade it for anything. </p><p>
  <em>
    <b>March 9th, Chan.</b>
  </em>
</p><p>Chan carefully pulled up the last knot, slipping the scissors into the loop to snip it. Then, he tugged on the suture with tweezers until it slipped out of his skin.</p><p>"There we go!" Chan said, setting the tweezers next to the rest of his sterilized tools. Felix had finally healed up, and he was practically vibrating, eager to finally get back in the game. Chan put away his tools and tossed the stitches into the trash, watching as Felix twisted his upper body left then right. </p><p>Chan's eyes were drawn to the light, small scar on his lower back, just above his sweatpants, knowing there was an identical one on the other side. All things considered, the wound had healed as well as it could. Chan was relieved. </p><p>"Hey, Lix! How you feeling?" Hyunjin asked, entering the room without knocking, followed by Changbin. </p><p>"Great! I'm glad I wont have to go through any major physical therapy. My muscles just feel a little tight," Felix crossed an arm over his chest, holding the position for twenty seconds before switching to stretch the other arm. </p><p>"That'll happen when you're bedridden for so long," Changbin mused. </p><p>Felix sat down on the floor, legs straight out in front of him. He took a deep breath, then slowly reached forwards. The burn only came in when he was halfway down his shins, but he kept going until his fingers were wrapped around his feet, forehead pressed to his knees. </p><p>Changbin, Chan and Hyunjin met eyes, all equally as surprised by Felix's flexibility. Changbin wiggled his eyebrows, and Chan slapped his shoulder. </p><p>Felix sat back up straight with a groan after a good thirty seconds, wincing. "I've gotten rusty," he pouted, and Chan found it adorable. </p><p>Honestly, he found nearly everything the younger did adorable. The others would agree.</p><p>"Seemed pretty okay to me," Hyunjin commented, trying to comprehend how folding oneself in half wasn't considered Felix's best. </p><p>"I used to be able to do it without it hurting, and I could hold it for longer," Felix explained, rearranging his legs into the butterfly position. He pushed his legs down until his knees were nearly touching the floor. He paused, lifting them back up a bit, then took another deep breath and pushed them down all the way, a slightly pained look on his face. </p><p>Felix went through the rest of his stretches, and by the end he looked a lot happier. "I'm going to go to the workout room."</p><p>"Want to try your hand at some weights? I'll join you," Changbin raised an eyebrow. Out of all of them, Changbin was most involved with weights and workouts, so it was obvious he was interested in seeing what Felix's got.</p><p>"Me too!" Hyunjin said, while Chan nodded.</p><p>"Yeah. I'd go down there and lift some weights with Jisung so I wouldn't be completely inactive, but I want to get into some bigger stuff," Felix ruffled around for some workout clothes, changing in the bathroom. they all left the room, stopping by each of their own rooms to change into their workout clothes as well before heading in the direction of the game room. Felix poked at his own stomach, "my abs are basically gone." </p><p>"What a shame that is," Hyunjin said, sending a quick prayer for a speedy return of Felix's abs, probably remembering them from when Chan asked him to bathe Felix that first day. Chan had to agree. </p><p>Felix waved to Jeongin as they passed him, heading towards a door to the basement. The basement was a large space that had been fitted with plenty of equipment. There was a row of three treadmills, a couple stationary bicycles, a weight lifting set, a pull up dip station, and a smaller conjoined room with a bench and a rack of dumbbells. There was a spot in the corner with mats for yoga, exercise balls, stretchy belts, skipping ropes, and medicine balls. </p><p>They waited for Felix to choose what he wanted to do first, but it seems he already had a plan in mind, heading over to the mats. "You guys just gonna join me?" he asked as Hyunjin sat down beside him. </p><p>"Might as well," Changbin said as Felix laid down, "need somebody to told your guys' feet?"</p><p>"Yes, please," Hyunjin said while Felix just nodded. Chan sighed, smiling as he kneeled in front of Hyunjin. </p><p>"You sure you want to work out with us, your majesty?" Chan teased. Hyunjin rarely worked out, and whenever he did, he'd complain the whole time before giving up thirty minutes in. </p><p>Hyunjin scoffed, "shut the fuck up."</p><p>Felix just laughed. Changbin looked down at him, "ready?"</p><p>"yep," Felix said, then waited until Changbin put pressure on his feet before starting his set of sit-ups. Hyunjin spluttered about not being ready, fumbling to catch up. </p><p>For the next few hours, they goofed around as they went through their workout routines. Hyunjin dropped out halfway through (<em>"I'm just taking a break" "Yeah, sure buddy"</em>) as expected, just watching them from the sidelines with a bottle of water dangling from his fingers. By the end they were sweating heavily, sprawled out on the floor. </p><p>Minho and Jisung came down the stairs with grins on their faces. "Jeongin told us you guys have been down here for hours," Minho comments, blatantly staring at Felix as he pushes his damp hair out of his face. </p><p>"Felix is very happy about getting his stitches removed," came Hyunjin's lazy drawl from where he was draped over the weight lifting bench on his back.</p><p>Felix just laughed sheepishly, "I haven't been able to work out in a while, sorry Hyunjin." Hyunjin just threw him a thumbs up. </p><p>"How did the deal go?" Chan asked, grabbing Jisung's attention. </p><p>"Pretty good, actually! They wanted more than we agreed on, but changed their minds pretty quickly," Jisung said.</p><p>"Yeah, because the second they said that and brought out more people to try to beat me up, you trained your sniper dot on the guy's forehead," Minho rolled his eyes. </p><p>"What was the deal about?" Felix asked, doe eyes curious. </p><p>"Just some people we get our weapons from sometimes. We won't be doing that anymore, though," Minho explains, "lately they've been acting up. It was inevitable this would happen." </p><p>"I see, I see. Do you think they're going to try and get back at you guys?" Felix tipped his head back to chug some water. </p><p>Chan smirked. "Most likely. When we first suspected it, Seungmin hacked into their bosses computer and found out they're actually working on teaming up with a rival gang. This deal going haywire was just the last straw."</p><p>That seemed to catch Felix's attention. "What are you planning?" He asked knowingly.</p><p>Chan just sent him a sly look. "A takedown. Care to participate?"</p><p>"I'd be honoured," Felix smiled with a glint in his eye, and Chan had a feeling Felix was much more impressive than any of them are aware of.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>what kpop boy group should the rival gang be y'all?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. XI</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"Alright, my turn," Chan said, cracking his knuckles as he stood across from Felix, "if you want to kick me, you can. Don't hold back." </p><p>Felix just smirked, "are you sure, Chan?"</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Things I can't describe: Houses, fight scenes</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
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  <em>
    <b>March 13th, Changbin.</b>
  </em>
</p><p>The thing about Felix is that at first, you assume he's relatively harmless. They found out he could cook one day when they came back from a job late and there was a full-course meal on the island. He wouldn't often initiate physical affection, but nobody mentioned it when he would lean into their touches and hugs. One time when Chan came back with a slash in his arm, Felix took care of him like a mother hen. He's all sweet smiles and cute gestures. He's also a small person. Sure, he's a bit taller than Changbin, but Changbin is more built than Felix. Felix is lean with the face of an angel and a slim waist and powerful thighs. </p><p>Speaking of powerful thighs...</p><p>They were currently wrapped around Changbin's body, right in his face, so sue him for thinking about it. </p><p>They were sparring outside in the grass. Felix wanted to practice, so the more prominent fighters of the group volunteered to challenge him. Changbin hadn't underestimated Felix by any means, but he was still surprised in his skill. Felix was fast and precise, and then suddenly he was throwing a handful of grass in his face, and Changbin had been slammed into the ground with Felix's leg across his neck in an Armbar hold, body twisting to escape. </p><p>After about thirty seconds of struggling, he had to tap out before he suffocated. Felix released him, rolling onto his feet as Changbin laid on the ground in defeat, looking up at him. Felix offered a hand and Changbin took it, pulling himself up onto his feet. </p><p>"Holy shit," Jisung said. </p><p>"Guess I still got it," Felix smiled to himself, satisfied that his skills hadn't deteriorated too much. Changbin was still busy looking at his thighs. </p><p>Jisung coughed, giving Changbin a look. The older just clicked his tongue.</p><p>"You have grass in your hair," Chan pointed out. Changbin sighed, shaking it out with his hands as he made his way over to the side so Jisung could take his place. </p><p>Now, Jisung was also a small person, but easily the fastest in the group. Changbin crossed his arms, eager to see how their fight ended. </p><p>Their fight was quick from the get-go. they were exchanging blows, flipping each other, attempting to pin the other down, only to escape before the maneuver was completed. From here, Changbin could see the twists of their bodies, their muscles straining, Jisung's face was flushed and Felix was sweating, and Changbin has never been attracted to two people more in his entire life. </p><p>Jesus christ. </p><p>Felix had a borderline feral look in his eyes now, and Changbin was suddenly very worried for Jisung. Jisung made a move to step forward, and Felix twisted his body, raised his foot up, and - He stopped. Jisung took this opportunity to surge forward and take Felix down, pinning him to the grass. Felix struggled for less time than Changbin did before tapping out. Jisung let go, helping Felix up. </p><p>"Why did you stop?" Jisung asked. </p><p>"Ah..." Felix scratched his neck, adverting his eyes, "I didn't want to like, actually hurt you. I got carried away."</p><p>Changbin met Chan's curious eyes. "What was it you were going to do?" Chan asked skeptically. Felix gestured for Jisung to step away, and then Felix was twisting his body in a similar way and his leg was straight in the air, foot careening down back towards the grass, crossing paths with where someone's face would be. He could see Jisung gulp.</p><p>Yep, that definitely would've hurt Jisung. Also, Felix needed to stop being so hot. </p><p>"Was that Taekwondo?" Jisung asks, eyebrows raised. </p><p>"Yep," Felix says, popping the p.</p><p>"What belt are you?" Chan leans forwards.</p><p>"Second degree black belt," Felix held up two fingers.</p><p>Chan let out a low whistle. "Impressive. It's not often you see people in our line of work who have actual martial arts experience."</p><p>Which was true, admittedly. There was always the oddball who was more knowledgeable, but mostly it was just people grappling and punching each other without most of the technical know-how. The only reason anyone in their group knew more complicated maneuvers was because Chan urged them to learn more. It certainly gave them the upper hand more often than not. </p><p>"You guys are all pretty good though," Felix lifted his shirt to wipe sweat from his face, and now Changbin couldn't stop looking at his abs. They weren't as defined as before, but they were there. Felix had been working out every day since he recovered. </p><p>"Alright, my turn," Chan said, cracking his knuckles as he stood across from Felix, "if you want to kick me, you can. Don't hold back." </p><p>Felix just smirked, "are you sure, Chan?" </p><p>Chan just posed confidently, holding his fists up with an amused smile. </p><p>Chan's style of fighting was more brute- strength focused, punching quickly and repeatedly, like a boxer. He wondered how Felix would hold up against that because if it came down to a good old-fashioned fist fight, Chan would win.</p><p>Felix seemed to understand that, though. He made sure to not let Chan get too close, tapping his wrists to deviate his punches and raising his arms to block hooks, delivering some of his own in between. Every now and then they'd get a hit on each other, but not enough to make much of a difference in their performances. </p><p>Changbin noticed that Felix had tried to put some distance between them a couple times, but then Chan was right back in front of him. He could tell Felix was trying to find an opportunity to kick him, but Chan never lowered his hands away from his face long enough for him to do so. </p><p>Felix's foot slipped on the grass, dislodging his balance, and Chan took the chance to punch him in the side, only his arm didn't retreat.</p><p>Felix was smirking, holding Chan's wrist in his hand. He twisted it, forcing his arm and upper body to follow the movement. Right as he was about to knee him in the chest, Chan tore himself away, leaving Felix with his knee in the air. </p><p>"You're tough," Felix lowered his leg.</p><p>"You're crafty. Slipping on purpose, huh?" Chan grinned, inspecting his wrist. Luckily it wasn't broken. Felix really wasn't kidding around now. </p><p>"If you can't find any opportunities, you gotta make them yourself," Felix shrugged with a coy smile, "want to call it a draw?"</p><p>"No way," Chan shook his head, running a hand through his messy hair to re-style it. Then, they were at it again. They were getting slower now, trying to wear each other out. Chan threw a right hook and Felix grabbed his arm, flipping him over his shoulder. Chan recovered quickly, reaching up to yank Felix down by the shirt as well.</p><p>Felix flipped over himself with the force, landing on his back. Chan quickly pulled himself over top of him before he could roll away, still holding onto his shirt. He sat on his abdomen, catching his wrists when Felix went to punch him. </p><p>They were both breathing heavily. Felix tried pulling his arms away, but Chan held them in a strong grip, so he gave up, huffing a laugh. </p><p>"Guess you got me," he said, sighing. </p><p>"Looks like it," Chan smirked, and Changbin thought the fight had been decided. But in the next second Felix's booted foot was meeting the back of Chan's head, knocking him forwards with a pained yelp in a very vivid reminder of how flexible he was. Felix freed his hands, switching their positions quickly while Chan was still disoriented. </p><p>"Kidding," Felix teased, pinning Chan's hands beside his head. Chan tried to do the same thing Felix did, but his foot didn't make it more than two feet off the ground due to Felix sitting on his hips instead of his stomach, restricting the movement of his hip joints. Changbin might've been a little jealous.</p><p>"Alright, you win," Chan said once it was evident he would not be able to escape, "though I wont say I'm upset about this turn of events."</p><p>Changbin could see Felix's ears turn red at the implications. Judging by Jisung's coo from beside him, he probably noticed the same thing. Felix quickly removed himself from Chan, smacking his lips together once in embarrassment - But when Changbin looked closer, there was nervousness in his eyes.</p><p>Jisung ran over to Felix. He went in for a hug, but then remembered they were both sweaty and gross and opted for a shoulder pat instead. "I wish I could do that. I'm gonna have to start stretching more often now," Jisung pulled away as Chan got to his feet, "you're so cool! I would've loved to see you kick Chan in the face though."</p><p>"Rude!" Chan huffed, fanning himself with the front of his shirt. </p><p>"Is your head okay?" Felix asked, moving to stand in front of Chan.</p><p>"That was one hell of a kick," Chan said with a smile. Felix's posture slumped guiltily. Chan ruffled his hair, sliding his hand down to rest against the side of his neck, fingers playing with the short hairs at the back, "don't worry, I asked you not to hold back. I've been hit worse before. Tylenol will fix me right up." </p><p>That seemed to make Felix seem better, at least. His posture straightened back out.</p><p>"That's enough for now, I think. Lets all go get cleaned up and make something to eat! The others should be back soon." Chan suggested.</p><p>Felix and Jisung lead the charge back inside. Changbin fell a few steps behind with Chan.</p><p>"He has really nice thighs," Chan whispered under his breath. Changbin snorted.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. XII</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"Mind if I join?" Came a deep voice, and Seonghwa looked up to see a young-looking man, probably no older than 20, taking the vacant seat. He had slicked back blond hair, some styled to fall in his face, round eyes enhanced by smoky eye makeup, a killer jaw line, and plump lips. All in all, the guy was gorgeous.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>alright so apparently my parents used poker to teach me and my siblings math when we were younger so. yeah</p><p>also the only game of poker I know how to play is texas holdem, so thats what im going off of lol</p><p>[Full disclosure: I don't know jack shit abt ateez or their personalities so,,, yeah]</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <b>March 18th, 10:40 pm, Seonghwa.</b>
  </em>
</p><p>The casino was bustling. The sounds of people talking, machines chiming, cards ruffling, and chips clinking filled his ears. Everything was lit up in color, illuminating peoples faces and the glasses of their drinks. Hongjoong had asked him, San and Yeosang to watch the floor tonight. </p><p>Watching the floor was his favorite, honestly. He got to play games all night, and throw out anybody he caught cheating. </p><p>He tossed his big blind onto the table, the person to his right put in their little blind, and then the cards were dealt again. Seongwha lifted the corners. King of hearts, Ten of spades. He held back a smirk, looking around the table to read the other players.</p><p>"Call," the first person said, tossing in their chip. The next person folded, call, call, fold, call, fold, the person to his right called.</p><p>"Check," Seonghwa said. The dealer burned a card, then laid down the flop. 10, 7, king. Seonghwa leaned back in his seat as everyone made their plays. </p><p>fold, check, raise, call, call. Oh, they're confident.</p><p>"Call," Seonghwa added his chips to the pool. The dealer burned a card, placed down another. 7. Seonghwa's hand migrated to his chips, lifting up a few before dropping them. He gained suspicious glances from the people still in the pot. </p><p>Fold, check, fold, check. They're nervous. Only three people left, including himself.</p><p>"Check." The dealer burned the third card, and placed down the last. King. Seonghwa glanced around. the guy next to him sighed. He knew who would be folding.</p><p>Seonghwa looked up at the first person. She met his eyes, then pushed all her chips towards the middle, "All in."</p><p>As expected, the man to his right folded.</p><p>"So you have something good, huh?" Seonghwa asked. The woman shrugged.</p><p>"Call and see," she said. </p><p>Seonghwa smirked, keeping eye contact as he slowly pushed all his chips in as well, his pile just a tad larger than hers, "all in." </p><p>She bit her tongue, then threw down her cards with a confident smirk, "Full house, ten high." </p><p>"Well, that's unfortunate," Seonghwa sighed, and the girl's eyes sparkled, "for you." </p><p>Her face fell immediately as he showed her his cards. "Full house, King high," he stated, reaching forwards to claim his pile of chips, "good try, sweetie."</p><p>She was absolutely fuming as she left the table. Seonghwa began stacking his chips as the dealer collected the cards and re-shuffled them. </p><p>"Mind if I join?" Came a deep voice, and Seonghwa looked up to see a young-looking man, probably no older than 20, taking the vacant seat. He had slicked back blond hair, some styled to fall in his face, round eyes enhanced by smoky eye makeup, a killer jaw line, and plump lips. All in all, the guy was gorgeous. </p><p>Seonghwa licked his lips as delicate looking hands arranged his chips. Hongjoong wouldn't mind if he brought someone back, would he? </p><p>Seonghwa threw in his small blind, the person on his left threw in their big blind, and another round started. </p><p>
  <em>
    <b>March 18th, 11:30 pm, Seonghwa.</b>
  </em>
</p><p>The entire table has seen a rotation of new challengers now, and it's all thanks to the gorgeous man across from him. He looked like he didn't belong in a place like this, but god did appearances certainly deceive. </p><p>Seonghwa couldn't get a read on him at all. He'd chat with the other players, act all nice and distract them, make risky plays, smile and bluff through bad hands, frown at good ones, appear expressionless at either, and everything in between. He has gone all in for a pair of fucking queens for gods sake and come out victorious. </p><p>There's no pattern to anything he does, no tells. He was a wild card.  </p><p>And also quickly becoming rich. His pile of chips is only a couple of wins away from being the same size as his. </p><p>Frankly, Seonghwa was impressed. And turned on. Nobody else would be joining their table now - The number of players would only be going down from nine.</p><p>The next round started. He looked down at his cards, a 2 and a 5. Bad hand. </p><p>"Fold," He started. </p><p>call, call, call, the pretty-boy called, fold, fold, call, fold. The dealer laid down the cards. 6, 8, 10, all the same suit, hearts.</p><p>Everybody checked. The next card was laid down. Jack of clubs. </p><p>"Your chips are looking a little low there," pretty-boy said to the man on his right with a pout. </p><p>"Not for long," the guy smirked back, and Seonghwa mentally rolled his eyes. What an idiot. </p><p>fold, check, the pretty-boy checked, check. It seems an unspoken cease-fire has been called until the last betting round. The last card was laid down - 7 of diamonds. The dude beside pretty-boy's eyes lit up. </p><p>"All in," He said confidently, pushing his chips in hastily. Pretty-boy moved the palm he was resting his chin in to cover his smirking mouth. Seonghwa felt bad for the man beside him.</p><p>"All in," pretty-boy mimicked, pushing his own pile towards the middle. The last guy folded. </p><p>The guy threw down his cards, a 4 and 9. "Straight," He said confidently, probably thinking that nobody could get anything better out of that. He looked towards pretty-boy expectantly. </p><p>"Flush," He said with a smile, revealing his jack and king of hearts. The man's jaw dropped, and Seonghwa scoffed as he was forced to leave. Pretty-boy collected his chips. </p><p>Over the next two hours of playing, Seonghwa and pretty boy have run nearly everyone dry of their chips. There's only one more person at the table.</p><p>Pretty boy threw in his big blind, the other guy threw in his small blind. Cards were dealt. Seonghwa looked down. 7 and 8 of spades. He was going first.</p><p>"Call," He said, throwing in his chip. The guy did the same, throwing in another chip to match it. </p><p>"Check," pretty boy said, and the flop was laid down. 9, 10, Jack, all spades. Oh, this was perfect. But he couldn't go all in yet. He didn't want to scare either of them off. </p><p>"Check," Seonghwa looked around. The guy was rubbing his thumb along the side of his pointer finger. Seonghwa recognized it as his anxious tell. So, he was waiting for something. </p><p>"Check," he said. </p><p>Pretty-boy was silent. Seonghwa looked over, and he was smiling. He had been this entire round. Seonghwa wondered what was going on inside his head. Was he waiting for something, too?</p><p>Finally, pretty boy checked. The dealer burned a card, placed one down. Seonghwa glanced down briefly, Queen of spades, then back up at pretty-boy. His expression never faltered. Maybe he should stir the pot a bit.</p><p>"Raise," Seonghwa said, putting in one chip of the lowest value. The speed of the guy's thumb increased anxiously. </p><p>"Call," the guy said, tossing his chip in. <em>So, he was still waiting on the card to make his hand.</em></p><p>Pretty-boy was silent again. The guy between them glanced over, jaw clenched. Ah, so pretty-boy noticed his anxiety too. He was just trying to transform that anxiety into impatience. </p><p>"Call," He finally said, matching their bets. A card was burned. Jack of hearts. </p><p>The guy's eyes between them lit up, his hand inching towards his chips. So, that was it, huh? </p><p>Seonghwa would have to set some bait, first. As confident as he was in his hand, He wanted to figure out what everyone else had. If the guy went all in, its safe to assume he had a four of a kind or a full house with the jacks, since he didn't react that strongly to anything else. And if that was the case... Well, Seonghwa had this in the bag.</p><p>He threw in a stack of coins that were worth five hundred. "Raise," he tested.</p><p>Almost immediately, the man between him and pretty-boy shoved all his coins forwards. <em>Four of a kind or full house it is.</em></p><p>Seonghwa turned his gaze to pretty-boy, who's expression <em>still hadn't changed.</em> Not in the slightest. Both elbows were up on the table, one hand supporting his chin, cards dangling from the other. </p><p>"All in," He pushed his chips forwards with the hand that had been supporting his chin, looking up to meet Seunghwa's eyes suddenly. The tension between them was palpable. He was being challenged. Seonghwa wondered what the hell he could have. This hand was the deciding moment. <em>He wouldn't back down.</em></p><p>"Alright, if you two want to play that way," Seunghwa slid his pile forwards, "all in." </p><p>The guy between them revealed his cards quickly, the last two jacks. "Four of a kind, jacks," He exclaimed. Seonghwa finally allowed himself to grin. </p><p>"Sorry, buddy," Seonghwa laid down his hand, then turned his gaze to Pretty-boy, mustering up all of his hidden, slimy confidence, "But I have a straight flush. I'm walking away with that pot." </p><p>Pretty-boy pursed his lips. "Good play," he said, sighing. Then, he flipped his cards between his fingers to face them, the slyest smile he'd ever been witness to gracing his angelic features. The guy between them spluttered. Seonghwa felt his breath leave him in a <em>whoosh.</em></p><p>
  <em>King and Ace of spades.</em>
</p><p>"Royal flush," pretty-boy's voice was laced with glee. Seonghwa felt a laugh bubble up in his throat. Unbelievable. </p><p>"Well alright then," Seonghwa stood up as the dealer collected the cards. The pretty-boy was about to leave when Seonghwa stopped him.</p><p>"What's your name?" Seonghwa leaned against the poker table. Now that they were standing, he could see he was a couple inches taller than him. Pretty boy looked up at him through his eyelashes, smiling. </p><p>"Sunjin, you?" </p><p>"Seonghwa. Want to grab a drink with me? I'd love to get to know you more," Seonghwa offered with a flirty gaze and raunchy undertones, gesturing with his head towards the bar. </p><p>Sunjin nodded, smirking. "Sure, if you're paying."</p><p>"But of course," Seonghwa chuckled, leading Sunjin over to the bar through the sea of people and machines. He was getting laid tonight. </p><p>
  <em>
    <b> March 18th, 2:25 am, Seonghwa.</b>
  </em>
</p><p>"Yeah, so my brother and I got this cool quad as a shared birthday present, right?" Sunjin started his next story, already giggling. Seonghwa just watched on with a smile, admiring his lips as he talked, "he wanted to try it out first, and I was like sure, whatever. But then his shoe lace got caught in the gear, he turned the handle without noticing, and got yanked underneath!"</p><p>Seonghwa winced, dropping his forehead into his palm as he imagined it, "Shit, really?" </p><p>"Yeah! And it was funny as hell, so obviously I laughed. He didn't like that very much, and next thing I know, I'm sprinting for my life while he tries to run me down with it."</p><p>Seonghwa's jaw dropped, "He didn't, holy shit. Did he get you?" </p><p>Sunjin shook his head, finishing off his third drink. "Hell, no. Mom came out and stopped him before he could. He got grounded for like, three months. I had the quad all to myself." </p><p>"Oh my god," Seonghwa said with disbelief, shaking his head. Sunjin watched as he finished off his fourth drink, and Seonghwa mentally smirked to himself at the feeling of eyes on his throat. </p><p>"Want to get out of here?" Sunjin proposed, eyes dark, and Seonghwa smirked. <em>Score.</em></p><p>"Hell yeah. Come with me," Seonghwa stood up, offering his hand to Sunjin. </p><p>"Wait, dont we have to pay?" Sunjin asked as Seonghwa pulled him away. </p><p>Cute. "Not necessary. I'm part owner of this place," He explained, and by Sunjin's impressed look, it seems his brag worked, "our living space is attached to the casino." </p><p>"Oh! That's cool," Sunjin said as Seonghwa lead him up the grand stairs to the double doors above. He met Yeosang's eye's from across the room, signaling that he was going to the back for now. He turned away and lead Sunjin through the doors before Yeosang could complain, already imagining his unimpressed look. <em>"Stop finding people to fuck while you're on the job, Seonghwa," He'd say. "Killjoy," Seonghwa would always reply, then go ahead and do it anyway. </em></p><p>The door's closed behind them, blocking out all the noise from the casino. </p><p>"My room is this way," Seonghwa said, leading him down a hallway, holding back his eagerness. As much as he wanted to get right to it and rail Sunjin against the wall, Hongjoong would kill him if he caught them. </p><p>As soon as they got to his room, Seonghwa grabbed Sunjin by the waist, going in for a kiss. </p><p>He was stopped by a finger on his lips. Seonghwa opened his eyes, confused, but Sunjin's doe eyes were looking up at him with mirth, and his smirk looked so nice on his face. </p><p>"Ah, not yet," Sunjin said, grabbing Seonghwa by the front of his suit, leading him backwards towards the bed, voice holding so many promises and Seonghwa let him. His dick was painfully hard in his pants already.</p><p>Sunjin pushed him onto his back on the bed and quickly climbed on top of him. Seonghwa's limbs felt heavy as he lifted his hands to his hips. </p><p>Slowly, Sunjin undid the buttons on his suit, sliding his small hands underneath. </p><p>"What do you want me to do?" Sunjin asked, voice low and deep. Seonghwa blinked blackspots at the edges of his vision away. </p><p>"Suck me off," Seonghwa demanded, tongue heavy in his mouth. He felt drowsy. Shit, maybe he drank too much. He wanted to get on with it. </p><p>"Can you say please?" Sunjin asked, and Seonghwa didn't even notice that the smaller had moved his mouth closer to his ear. Like hell he would beg. </p><p>Seonghwa went to flip them over and take control, but his limbs wouldn't move. The blackspots grew, and he cursed. He couldn't move. </p><p>"Too bad," Sunjin pulled away, his smirk changing from suggestive to sly. He pulled a package out of his pocket. Through the spots, Seonghwa identified them as pills. </p><p>
  <em>He was drugged?</em>
</p><p>"You should watch your drink more closely. It was really easy to slip one of these in," Sunjin rose to his knees, and Seonghwa felt panic rise up. He tried to go after him, but his body refused to cooperate. His vision was fading. <em>Shit, shit shit shit.</em></p><p>"Good night," Sunjin said, and Seonghwa blacked out.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Ayyy the rival gang is Ateez! admittedly, I don't know jack shit about their personalities, but they were most suggested and honestly, the first band that came to my mind as well. sorry if anyone is out of character but this is my fanfiction and i make the rules uwu</p><p>Also, fun fact: the Quad story is real. it happened to my dad lmao</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. XIII</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>One thing Felix was also really good at was card games. The only reason the group knew this was because he absolutely wiped the floor with them during one of Chan's "forced family fun" nights. </p><p>That, paired with the fact that Felix was basically a ghost and nobody knew of his association with SKZ, he was the perfect choice to infiltrate Ateez's hideout - and seduce Seonghwa.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>anyway I love how in their All In MV it was just them committing crime, making bank, and fucking with the police</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <b>March 18th, 2:30 am, Felix.</b>
  </em>
</p><p>Felix has learned to do a lot of useful things in his lifetime, some being lockpicking, gymnastics, pickpocketing, forgery, doing makeup, and an assortment of others.</p><p>One thing Felix was also really good at was card games. The only reason the group knew this was because he absolutely wiped the floor with them during one of Chan's "forced family fun" nights. </p><p>That, paired with the fact that Felix was basically a ghost and nobody knew of his association with SKZ, he was the perfect choice to infiltrate Ateez's hideout - and seduce Seonghwa.</p><p>Seungmin and Jeongin had been monitoring their casino for weeks - learning schedules, habits, the ins and outs. </p><p>Turns out that one of the members, Seonghwa, would make a habit out of taking people to the back to have some fun at the end of the night whenever he was on the floor. Which was perfect - much less suspicious than just wandering in on his own - and exactly where he was now. </p><p>Felix looked down at the unconscious man's body. What a fucking idiot. He should really stop that habit of his.</p><p>Felix tucked the pills away, then leaned over his body. He tucked his hand underneath his open suit, feeling along the lining inside for the access keycard he needed. </p><p>Felix's fingers ran along a slight edge in the suit. He stuck his fingers into the hidden pocket, grabbing the keycard between his pointer and middle finger. </p><p>Felix stood upright. "Much appreciated," He bid farewell to the sleeping man with a salute of the access card, then disappeared through the door.</p><p>According to the schematic Jeongin put together of the building, Hongjoongs room should be in the opposite direction, separated from the rest. He passed the grand double doors that lead back to the casino area. This part of the building had cameras, but they were just recording footage. Nobody was actually monitoring them. </p><p>Felix turned on his earpiece. "I'm in the back, Min."</p><p><em>"Ah, it's about time. You know how late it is?"</em> Came Seungmin's reply. </p><p>"Not my fault. Seducing people via Texas Holdem takes time, Minnie," Felix smiled to himself, now stood in front of hongjoong's door. He passed his card over the card reader, waiting for the small light to turn green before pushing open the door. "Besides, I know you don't sleep."</p><p>
  <em>"You've got me there, Jjix. Truthfully, even if I did - I'd make sure to stay awake so I can make sure you're okay."</em>
</p><p>Felix blushed. It was impossible not to, especially whenever they expressed concern for his wellbeing. </p><p>Hongjoong's office was spacious, and everything was symmetric. His near-black wooden desk was on the other side of the room, a 3 by 3 foot painting on the wall behind it, hovering above a lit up room-length fish tank filled with exotic fish, bathing it's side of the room in aquamarine lights. Like the casino, this room was decorated in reds and golds. The floor was made of black tiles, but an ornamental rug covered most of it. </p><p>On Saturdays, Hongjoong's office was empty. Hongjoong was always manning the private poker rooms on Fridays and Saturdays, then on the last Sunday of each month he would empty out the money vault in preparation for the next month.</p><p>Only, the vault would already be empty by then. Unfortunate, really - it was a lot of money to lose.</p><p><em>"There should be bags or briefcases somewhere in there to carry the money. I doubt they do it by the handful,"</em> Seungmin provided, and Felix went over to the closet to throw open the doors. There was a shoe rack, suits hanging from the bar, and a couple of silver briefcases on the floor, tucked into the corner. </p><p>"Got it," Felix plucked one up, swinging it lightly as he circled the desk, facing the painting. Felix ran his hand along the edge, feeling a couple millimeters of space between it and the wall.</p><p>"This is too good," Felix smiled, amused. He set the briefcase down on the desk, then stood on his tip-toes to lean over the fish tank and wrap his fingers around the edges. He lifted the painting off the wall, revealing the front of a built-in safe.</p><p>"Classic! Oh my god, I didn't think people actually used that in real life," Felix commented, earning a confused noise from Seungmin.</p><p>"You didn't happen to find his password for the vault when you hacked his computer, did you?"</p><p>
  <em>"No. He didn't have it on there."</em>
</p><p>"Hmm," Felix pursed his lips, eyes skittering over the desk. Maybe it was in the drawers?</p><p>"I'm about to do a lot of lock picking," He sighed to himself, kneeling down in front of the drawers. There were five in total, all locked. Felix reached into the back of his dress shoe, lifting his heel to grab the bobby pin he kept hidden underneath. Then, he got to work.</p><p>Picking locks with bobby pins was a bit more difficult than if he had his proper equipment, taking a couple minutes at most. When the first drawer finally opened, he dove inside. There was a checkbook, a binder of papers, plenty of documents, but nothing with a password written on it. It was the same for all the other drawers - documents, papers, sticky notes, supplies, a gun that was fully loaded - but no passwords. There wasn't anything in the trash beside the desk, either. </p><p>Felix quickly put everything back into place, pushing the drawers shut as he stood up. </p><p>He had to hand it to Hongjoong. The guy was thorough, careful, and apparently had the memory of a robot. But there had to be <em>something</em> he overlooked. On his desk was just his computer, a pen holder, a stationary notepad, and a pitcher of water with a couple cups. He tapped his fingers against the wood. Maybe...</p><p>Felix sat in the cushioned chair, running his fingertips across the smooth, cool surface of the desk. Eventually, though, he touched a spot with little indents, barely discernable if you weren't paying attention. A grin spread across his face. </p><p>Felix ripped a piece of paper from the notepad, slapping it down over the spot with the indents. He pulled a pencil from the holder, then ran the tip lightly over the paper at an angle, almost flat against it, leaving a shaded blob behind. Slowly, the indents in the desk revealed themselves, stark-white against the grey. </p><p>Felix put the pencil back and held up the paper. "Guess you couldn't get rid of everything after all, huh?" He mumbled to himself, staring at the uncovered text in from of him.</p><p>
  <em>"What was that?"</em>
</p><p>"Just talking to myself." Felix read over the paper. There were three lines of text. One was a combination of four pairs of numbers, the other was a ten-digit code, and the other was made of numbers and letters. </p><p>Felix turned back to the vault. The dial was too high for him to reach. He glanced around again, spotting a stepping stool under the desk.</p><p>Felix snorted. </p><p>He rolled it into place and climbed on, now eye-level with the dial. Now he had to figure out if any of these passcodes were compatible with the safe.</p><p>It was pretty obvious at a first glance that the code made of numbers and letters could be eliminated, leaving the four pairs, and ten digit. Felix bit his tongue. Both codes could work. The dial went all the way up to 20. He couldn't risk getting it wrong - they had no idea if an alarm would sound if it was inputted incorrectly even once. </p><p>"Min. I might have to make a run for it."</p><p>
  <em>"Excuse me?"</em>
</p><p>Felix smiled, turning the dial to start inputting the first code. He'd have to try one to find out. "You're excused," he said, turning the dial again, then again, until he only had the last double-digit number.</p><p>He took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself to run away should this go awry, then completed the final dial. </p><p>Nothing, except the feint sound of the bolt unlocking. </p><p>Felix yanked open the hefty door to the vault, only to be met with stacks and stacks of cash. He whistled, impressed. </p><p>"They make bank here. We should open a casino of our own," Felix mused. Seungmin snorted. </p><p>He grabbed the briefcase off the desk, then began clearing out the vault. There was easily over a billion here. He'd probably have to get a second briefcase. </p><p> </p><p>He had to get a second briefcase. It made it more inconvenient to move around, but at least they got all the money. He closed the vault, put everything he displaced back in their original positions, pocketed the paper with the codes, and left the room. </p><p>Next stop, utility room. He couldn't very well walk out in the open with the briefcases, could he?</p><p>A door opened down the hallway right as Hongjoong's door clicked shut, and Felix quickly went left down the next hallway to get out of sight, footsteps silent as he made his way to the utility room. </p><p>Immediately, Felix found the circuit breaker box. He pried it open, now faced with two rows of black switches. </p><p>"This is going to be fun," Felix closed his eyes, then flipped all the switches, plunging the casino into darkness.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. XIV</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Minho seemed to find what he was looking for, then stepped back with a smile. "Welcome back," He said, voice soft. </p><p>Somehow, Seungmin knew that under his makeup, Felix's cheeks were slowly turning pink. The blonde nodded.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The clip felix posted on chan's bubble after stealing his phone fucking sent me,,, it was so cute wejhwguiiq<br/>his lil gremlin voice and windshield wiper noises at the end,,,, amazing. i love them</p><p>also whooo we finally get Seungmin's pov :D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <b>March 18th, Felix.</b>
  </em>
</p><p>Felix opened his eyes, already adjusted, then slipped out of the room. They'd think it was nothing more than a blackout, and the backup generator would kick in soon. Only it wouldn't.</p><p>With a briefcase in both hands, Felix peeked around the corner of the hallway. Yunho was standing in front of his door, curiosity over the lights having lured him out. Luckily, Junyoung, Mingi, and Jongho's rooms were on the other side of the casino doors, and they were most likely asleep - he wouldn't have to worry about them getting in his way. </p><p>He couldn't wait long, though. Someone might get impatient and decide to check out the utility room.</p><p>Right as Yunho was about to pull out his phone to use its flashlight feature, Felix slid the briefcases across the floor, startling Yongho as they passed. He looked up in Felix's direction, but Felix was already in his face, pulling him into a choke hold. </p><p>Yunho struggled against him, digging his nails into his arm, trying to call out for help. Felix stood his ground as Yunho wheezed. He could feel his adams apple bob against his arm as he tried to suck in air but couldn't. Eventually his movements turned sluggish, weakly slapping at any part of Felix's body he could before going limp. </p><p>Felix laid his unconscious body down. He leaned over to pick up the briefcases as he sprinted to the casino doors.</p><p>The casino was bustling with chatter, while Yeosang and San were trying to defuse the situation. </p><p>"The lights will be back on shortly!" Yeosang assured, standing on the bar to get everyone's attention. </p><p>Felix couldn't help the chuckle that slipped past. He descended the stairs, merging with the crowd of people unnoticed.</p><p>"I'm out, Seungmin," Felix informs as he exits the building, "we're about to be a billion won richer." </p><p><em>"Oh, they're going to be so pissed,"</em> Seungmin chuckles as Felix kicks the stand up on Chan's motorcycle. He grabbed the bag hanging on the handle and shoves the briefcases in, slinging it over his shoulder as he mounts the motorcycle. </p><p>"I'm going to be a wanted man," Felix sighs, revving up the motorcycle. He straps the helmet on.</p><p>
  <em>"Might want to get out of there now. CB's been hovering over my shoulder this whole time."</em>
</p><p>Felix laughed, then pushed off.</p><p>
  <em>
    <b>March 18th, Seungmin.</b>
  </em>
</p><p>Admittedly, Seungmin wasn't fond of the idea of Felix seducing Seonghwa. None of them were, but Felix persisted. Strategically, he was the best bet, he knows that. But Felix had some pretty deeply ingrained intimacy issues that they still don't know the history of. Seungmin has a hunch, as they all do, but he's not sure he want's to tap into that just yet. Minho knows more than they do, he's sure of that - but he doesn't know how, and he's pretty sure Felix hasn't confided in any of them yet. </p><p>Seungmin and Jeongin could just research him, but that would break the trust they've built up with Felix. He wouldn't do anything to tarnish that. Hopefully Felix would tell them in time. </p><p>So it's understandable for him to be nervous the entire night, waiting for Felix to finally tune in. What if he was caught? What if Seonghwa was stronger than him? What if the drugs didn't take effect? He knew Felix could take care of himself. He had first-hand experience with Felix's capabilities - he had been taken prisoner while Felix was nursing a gunshot wound, after all.</p><p>Even knowing all that, it didn't quell his worries in the least.</p><p>When Felix finally turned on his earpiece and assured he was okay, relief flooded his body. He threw Chan (who was sitting in a chair next to him in case anything went wrong, fidgeting anxiously) a thumbs up. Chan's shoulders slumped with a sigh. </p><p>Talking with Felix over the earpiece was entertaining. Felix seemed like he was enjoying himself, commenting on something he found amusing every now and then. It was cute, honestly. But Seungmin was just happy Felix was okay. Even if he didn't make it out with the money, the only thing that mattered in the end was Felix's safety. </p><p>With confirmation that he made it out, Seungmin disconnected the earpieces so Felix could focus on driving. He dropped it onto the desk with a sigh.</p><p>"Is he on his way back now?" Chan asked, standing up from the chair. </p><p>"Yep. Ateez are going to be pissed when they find out," Seungmin said as they left the room so they could meet Felix at the front door. </p><p>It appears everyone else had the same idea, too - the rest were all cuddled up on the couches. Jeongin was resting his head on Changbin's shoulder, cushioning Hyunjin's head in his lap. Jisung and Minho were wrapped around each other on the other couch, the younger fiddling with his hoodie sleeves nervously. </p><p>"You guy's didn't go to sleep?" Chan asked, approaching the group. </p><p>They shook their heads. "We were all worried," Hyunjin admits. </p><p>"Is Felix on his way back now?" Changbin asked. </p><p>"Yeah, he should be here soon. He got the money, too," Seungmin claims an empty part of the couch beside Minsung. Chan leans against the back of the couch. "Don't worry, he's okay. He got out safely."</p><p>"Thank god," Minho mumbles into Jisung's hair. Nobody spoke again, just sitting in silence and their own thoughts. They never brought up their suspicions aloud, ever, even if they wanted to - it felt too much like going behind Felix's back. But they were all scared of the same thing. </p><p>The silence lasted for what felt like forever. The click of the front door unlocking drew their attention, and within seconds they were surrounding Felix at the door.</p><p>"You guys all waited up for me?" Felix asked with wide eyes. Seungmin watched as Minho pushed his way in front of Felix, running his hands through the youngers blonde hair and down his arms, checking him over for any injuries he neglected to tell Seungmin about. He seemed to be looking for something else, though, as he cradled the youngers face. Felix was visibly confused as he made eye contact with Minho, and even from behind, Seungmin knew Minho's expression looked serious.</p><p>Minho seemed to find what he was looking for, then stepped back with a smile. "Welcome back," He said, voice soft. </p><p>Somehow, Seungmin knew that under his makeup, Felix's cheeks were slowly turning pink. The blonde nodded.</p><p>"Alright! Show us what you got," Jisung exclaimed, rubbing his hands together as he eyed the bag.</p><p>Felix grinned, leading them over to the island. He unzipped the bag, setting the two briefcases on top with a <em>clunk.</em></p><p>"Feast your eyes," he said, throwing them open with a proud grin. </p><p>And holy shit, was that a lot of money. Felix was right. Maybe they <em>should</em> open their own casino. </p><p>Jisung grabbed one of the bill wads, thrumming the edge with his finger, smile slowly growing, "now that's what I'm talking about." </p><p>"So what now, Chan?" Seungmin asks as the rest start playing with the money like school children. </p><p>"Now," Chan smirks, gazing down at the money with his arms crossed, "we set our trap."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. XV</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Minho went silent, raising his hand to run it through Jisung's blue hair that looked black in the dark. "You know more than you've told us, right?" Jisung asked quietly.</p><p>"Yeah," Minho confirmed, but didn't continue. However Jisung didn't push for more. Instead, he closed his eyes to sleep.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>aye im not dead folks</p><p>i'm sorry Jilix writes itself they're just so cute ugh<br/>also,,, I live for Maknae Line Interactions. Can you tell i'm abusing the existence of Jeongin's alcove? </p><p>the outfit i describe is from here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1ZrunYbkg8 because that was one of my top five favorite outfits of his i just,,,, UGH HE LOOKS SO GOOD it should be illegal</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <b>March 18th, Felix.</b>
  </em>
</p><p>"Now we set our trap," Chan said, closing the briefcases, "but first, we get some much needed sleep. I'll brief you guys in the morning."</p><p>"It technically is morning," Seungmin pipes up, and Felix smiles, amused.</p><p>"Shut it, loser," Chan retorts lamely, waving them all off as he picks up the briefcases, "Go to bed. Run along now."</p><p>They all get herded over to the staircase. "You're such a dad," Jeongin jokes, glancing over his shoulder at their leader. </p><p>"Maybe so," Chan shrugs, then they all separate to go to their own rooms. Felix was just about to open the door when he felt arms slide around his waist.</p><p>He looks over his shoulder to see a head of pastel-pink resting against his shoulder. "Jeongin?" He says, confused, subconsciously leaning back into the embrace.</p><p>"Want to sleep with me? I get loneeeeeely," Jeongin whines, rubbing his forehead against his shoulder, and Felix rolls his eyes fondly at the youngest's antics. He hadn't slept in the alcove since that time he unintentionally passed out watching Unsolved with Seungmin and Jeongin, but he wasn't against the idea. It was much more cozy than his room. But he did feel a little anxious.</p><p>"Sure," he replied, and Jeongin lifted his head up, smiling excitedly. He pulled Felix along, and next thing he knew, they were settling down against the comfortable mass of pillows and blankets of Jeongin's "room," facing each other. </p><p>"What about Seungmin?" Felix questioned, sliding a hand underneath his pillow. He felt fidgety under Jeongin's gaze.</p><p>Jeongin just shrugs. "In our room. I just felt like spending time with you." </p><p>Felix could feel his cheeks heat up. Thank god it was dark. Jeongin closes his eyes. "Goodnight, Lix."</p><p>He kept his eyes open a while longer, tracing the lines of the youngers face as sleep took over. </p><p>"Night, Innie," He whispered, then fell asleep as well.</p><p>
  <em>
    <b>March 19th, 11:57 am, Felix.</b>
  </em>
</p><p>Felix awoke to Jeongin's face right in front of his. The old Felix would've panicked and run away, but the new Felix was just oddly content. </p><p>The warm sunlight was beating down on them from the window, setting Jeongin's light-colored hair aglow. Felix blinked the sleepiness from his eyes, squinting from the brightness. </p><p>He sat up, looking around. Nobody else was in the room yet. He tried making out the time on the clock across the room - nearly 12 am. A sudden buzzing sound from behind had him turning back in surprise.</p><p>It was coming from Jeongin's computer. Apparently, it was loud enough to rouse Jeongin from sleep, too, because the younger groaned as he sat up. </p><p>"That's probably Chan. Too lazy to come down here and wake me up himself," Jeongin mumbled, sitting up against the wall. He pulled the laptop onto his lap and opened it, gesturing for Felix to sit beside him. </p><p>They sat shoulder to shoulder, looking down at the mini-Chan on the screen. Everyone else was also there, sitting on the couches in the main room. "Jeongin! And Felix?" Came Chan's voice, "I see Jeongin roped you into a sleepover. Anyway, get over here. I'm gonna give you guy's the run-down."</p><p>"No fair, I want to have a sleepover with Lix," It was hard to see since they were farther away from the tv screen, but Felix could tell Jisung was pouting.</p><p>"Next time, Sung," Felix mended.</p><p>"I'll hold you to that!"</p><p>"We'll be there in a few," Jeongin promised, then clicked off, closing his laptop and setting it aside. Felix turned himself around and crawled backwards to the ladder, followed closely by Jeongin. </p><p>Jeongin stretched his arms above his head, yawning as they walked. "Did you sleep well?"</p><p>"Yeah," Felix replied honestly, nodding his head, "You?"</p><p>"Of course," Jeongin smiled, stopping outside Felix's room so he could change.</p><p>Thankfully, Hyunjin and Minho had been sent to his apartment to collect most of his belongings while he was on bed rest. Which meant he no longer had to borrow clothes. His landlord was probably pissed about him skipping out, but it's not like he'd ever be going back there.</p><p>He picked out blue jeans with a white patch on the thigh and an oversized, striped red and maroon sweater with small holes everywhere overtop a white undershirt. He slipped on some black boots, tying the laces quickly so he could return to Jeongin. </p><p>Jeongin was waiting outside his door, now wearing a pink hoodie with white sleeves and dark blue jeans. "You know, I would've waited outside your room for you, too," Felix nudged his arm.</p><p>"It's too late for that now," Jeongin put his hands in his hoodie pocket.</p><p>When they finally got to the main room, Everyone was still there waiting. Felix took the free space between Jisung and Changbin, while Jeongin pushed Hyunjin over so he could sit on the end of the couch instead. Hyunjin protested dramatically.</p><p>"Now then. Our ex-weapons dealers could prove to be pretty pesky if we let them get away. Right now, the only common interest they have with Ateez is wanting to see us fall apart," Chan explains, looking over the faces of his members, "but I have a plan to get them both out of the picture." </p><p>Chan's eyes glaze over, a slight smirk gracing his lips, and Felix recognizes it as his scheming face.</p><p>"Oh, boy," JIsung quips from beside him.</p><p>"Oh boy indeed!" Chan grins, purposefully ignoring the exasperated manner Jisung used, "we're going to get them arrested. Fun, right?" </p><p>"We're what now?" Changbin leans forward, eyebrow raised. </p><p> "You heard me. We're going to get them arrested. That's the only way to make sure they're out of the picture for good, aside from killing them."</p><p>"Why can't we just kill them?" Felix asks curiously, "you've killed people before."</p><p>"Because it's not like they've done anything <em>bad</em> bad. Yeah, we ain't no saints, but we have standards," Chan makes a lose gesture with his hand, and Felix sighs through his nose. He's got him there. </p><p>"Alright, but how is sending them to jail any better? What about allying with them?" He retorts.</p><p>"Our history with them isn't the best," Hyunjin scratches his head, full lips pursed, "they're always trying to get in our way. A year ago, they interfered with one of our jobs and Jisung got seriously hurt. We can't just forgive that."</p><p>"Besides, it's not like they'll be going to jail for nothing. You do realize that Seonghwa took you to the back while he was under the impression you were drunk?" Chan states grimly, and the room feels like it drops in temperature. Felix swallows the lump in his throat.</p><p>"Of course I know that," Felix's voice feels quiet in his throat, he wondered if anyone could even hear him. He leans back into the couch, hiding himself from Chan's gaze with Jisung's body. </p><p>Fingers slip between his own. He glances down to see Jisung's hand intertwined with his, but when he looks up at his friend, Jisung is still facing Chan. Felix gives his hand a light squeeze in thanks, heart warmed by the action, and Jisung squeezes back. </p><p>Minho breaks the silence by clearing his throat, leaning his hip against the arm of the couch. "How are we going to get them arrested?" </p><p>Chan crosses his bare arms over his chest, grinning, "I was thinking we create some conflict."</p><p>"Can't you ever just be straight with us, Chan?" Jeongin sighs, exasperated with Chan's habit of never getting to the point.</p><p>"Impossible. All of you are too hot," Chan replies cheekily, earning groans from all around. </p><p>
  <em>
    <b>March 20th, 10:20 pm, Felix.</b>
  </em>
</p><p>Felix kept his gaze trained on the empty, desolate parking lot Jeongin set up as the meeting point. He was hunched over the wheel of the car, parked near the edge. It was only partially lit by a streetlamp, surrounded on two ends by abandoned buildings undergoing reconstruction. An ideal spot for, say, enemies to throw down without being interrupted.</p><p>Chan was really manipulative, Felix has learned. He's sneaky.</p><p>Since Felix has no known affiliation with anyone, Chan took advantage of this to make it seem like he was sided with their weapon dealers. Jeongin had spent all of yesterday afternoon and this morning sending emails back and forth between Hongjoong and Kangsun (who he recently found out is the leader of their weapon dealers) framing Kangsun's team for stealing the money, while Kangsun thought they were planning on finalizing their teamup in person.</p><p>It was crafty despite being so simple, honestly. Kudos to Jeongin for keeping up with it. </p><p>They were scheduled to meet up in ten minutes, at 10:30. </p><p>Jisung was in the passenger seat beside him, playing a game on his phone. He was making little noises as he did, eyebrows furrowed down at the screen. He'd cheer quietly whenever something went right, and audibly boo whenever it didn't. </p><p>Felix felt a smile tug at his lips. "What game are you playing?"</p><p>"Plants vs Zombies," Jisung responds after a second, distracted, "I've been playing since this morning. It's addictive. Jeongin got me hooked. He's beaten every level already." </p><p>Felix leaned over the console to watch the screen. The brightness was turned down since it was dark, and his pupils were thankful. </p><p>Jisung'd head snapped up, and Felix pulled back a little, startled by Jisung's surprise. They met eyes, and Felix was suddenly aware of how little space there was between them. </p><p>He settled back in his seat, "sorry."</p><p>Jisung floundered, game forgotten as he waved his hands around, "no! It's okay. You just took me by surprise. You can watch if you want." </p><p>Even though he was thoroughly embarrassed, Felix resumed his position to see the screen, mindful of the space between them this time. Jisung turned back to his phone, then groaned.</p><p>"I died," he pouted. </p><p>"Whoops," Felix half-heartedly apologized as Jisung restarted the level. </p><p>Turns out that Plants vs Zombies was addictive. It was also adrenaline inducing. By the time the end of the level approached, they were bouncing in their seats, trying to keep their voices down as Jisung placed plant after plant, just barely killing the zombies in time. </p><p>They collapsed into their seats as he completed the level, giggling to themselves. "Wow. And you said Jeongin beat all the levels?"</p><p>"Hard to believe, huh?" Jisung cracked an eye open, then sat upright, "they're here."</p><p>Felix looked out the window. Two groups of people were now standing a couple meters away from each other. He could barely hear their distant voices, but as tensions rose and both parties became angry and confused, the volume rose, and they could be heard clearly.</p><p>"Where's the money?!" Hongjoong demanded, "you didn't bring it, huh? Is the one who stole it hiding somewhere?"</p><p>"I have no idea what you're talking about! What money?" Kangsun replied, agitated. </p><p>"Bullshit!" Hongjoong whipped out his gun, aiming at Kangsun. Everyone else brought out their weapons as well, but nobody made a move to do anything. </p><p>"Think we should make the call now, or wait?" Jisung asked. </p><p>"Call them now. By the time they get here, some people will get shot. Charges will be more severe if someone gets hurt," Felix replied without hesitation, taking out his phone to type 112. Felix pressed call, and within minutes, dispatch answered.</p><p>
  <em>"112, what's your emergency?"</em>
</p><p>"Two gangs are fighting outside! They have guns, and someone's been shot! Please send help!" Jisung exclaimed, leaning over the console to speak into the phone with his best impression of a female voice. At the same time, the situation was escalating, and the first shot was fired.</p><p>
  <em>"Alright, can I know where you are?"</em>
</p><p>Felix held back laughter as Jisung completed the distress call, all the while people were yelling and firing off their guns. "Now lets see how this ends," Felix murmured, watching the chaos unfold in front of them.</p><p>Felix's ears picked up the sounds of sirens approaching in the distance, and the fight in the parking lot stopped. Three police cars came barreling into the lot, skidding to a halt. Everyone scattered, some attempting to drag the injured out, but it was too late. </p><p>An officer and Hongjoong pointed their guns at each other. "Put it down!" The officer yelled, while the rest held everyone at gunpoint. Weapons dropped to the ground as people raised their hands behind their heads. </p><p>"Last warning!" The officer yelled, and Hongjoong finally set his gun down. All of the police except one (who was probably contacting an ambulance for the injured) approached, cuffs at the ready. </p><p>"Guess that means we won't have to worry about them for a while," Jisung commented as the situation died down, gang members being herded into the backs of police cars. </p><p>"Yep," Felix clicked his tongue, turning on his earpiece, "it worked, CB. Everyone's being arrested."</p><p><em>"Good to hear,"</em> Chan said, pride lacing his voice.</p><p>"Don't go getting a big head now, leader," Jisung said.</p><p>
  <em>"Don't tell me what to do, Han."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <b>March 20th, 11:10 pm, Jisung.</b>
  </em>
</p><p>The parking lot had emptied out by now, just leaving bloodstains and bullet casings behind in the aftermath. Felix started up the car, then began driving home. </p><p>Jisung couldn't help but watch Felix's profile. Every time they went under a streetlight, it lit up his face, accentuating his features and the sharp cut of his jaw. He was thrust back to earlier, when Felix voluntarily got all up in his space without being prompted first.</p><p>His face flushed in embarrassment, recalling how he had reacted. But could you fault him? It was Felix, for gods sake. His plush lips had been <em>right there.</em> Within <em>kissing distance.</em></p><p>Jisung took out his phone, hoping to distract himself with Plants vs Zombies for the time being. </p><p>It didn't work. He kept failing the level, Felix's eyes up close stamped permanently into the back of his head. He probably failed close to 20 times before they finally got back. </p><p>Felix parked the rented car a street away from their hideout, turning off the engine with a twist of the keys. Jisung followed the motion with his eyes, internally uwuing at how Felix's sweater sleeve dwarfed his small hand, thumb poking out of one of the holes. Jisung cursed under his breath.</p><p>They exited the car, beginning their walk down the street. Felix was twirling the car keys on his finger, and Jisung would've found it cute if he could stop staring at Felix's legs in those jeans.</p><p>God, he was turning into a monster. He was almost as bad as Minho, at this point. Felix needed to stop being so <em>Felix</em> before he lost his mind.</p><p>He forced himself to look ahead. It's only been a little over a month since Felix started staying with them, and he's already a disaster. </p><p>Chan met them at the front door, along with the others. </p><p>"How was it? Did people get hurt?" Minho asked immediately upon their entry. Jisung gave his boyfriend a look. </p><p>"Yes, you sadist," he slapped his arm lightly, earning laughs from all around. </p><p>"Neither of you got caught in the crossfire?" Chan asked, giving their bodies a once over.</p><p>"We're fine, Chan. We would've told you over the earpiece if we had," Felix said, tossing the keys into a bowl on a table by the door. Jisung took out his earpiece, handing it over to Seungmin, Felix doing the same. </p><p>"Think we can claim their casino?" Jeongin asked, hopeful. </p><p>"Probably not. It's still legally owned by them," Hyunjin shook his head, "it's a shame."</p><p>"At least we're still millionaires," Minho mused. </p><p>"Anyway, I'm going to bed. Peace," Seungmin said, turning to retreat to his room, followed by Jeongin. One by one people left to go to bed. Instead of turning to his own room, Jisung followed Minho to his. </p><p>"So you got one-on-one time with Felix, huh? How did that go?" Minho teased as they changed into sleepwear. Jisung's face flushed as he pulled on Minho's t-shirt. </p><p>"We had a moment. Or I had one. He got really close to my face without realizing to watch me play a game, and I panicked. Hard." Jisung admitted, throwing himself into Minho's bed and under the blankets. </p><p>He could hear Minho laugh from behind him, then felt the covers lifting. The bed sank under Minho's weight. "Are you embarrassed, Sungie?"</p><p>"Of course I am!" He whined, turning around to face him, "I wanna kiss his stupid pretty face so bad. But I know I can't." </p><p>The admission felt heavy on his tongue. No matter how much any of them wanted to shower Felix in affection, romantic or platonic alike, they knew they couldn't take it too far.</p><p>Minho went silent, raising his hand to run it through Jisung's blue hair that looked black in the dark. "You know more than you've told us, right?" Jisung asked quietly.</p><p>"Yeah," Minho confirmed, but didn't continue. However Jisung didn't push for more. Instead, he closed his eyes to sleep.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. XVI</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>He could hear Australia in his voice, see it in the freckles imprinted on his skin from the hot sun. He hadn't been to Australia in a long time, but he wasn't missing it as much now that Felix was with them. </p><p>Also, Felix had taken to calling Chan by his English name, and he didn't know exactly how he felt about it.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <b>May 20th, Minho.</b>
  </em>
</p><p>"Felix has been spending a lot of time with Seungmin, Jeongin and Jisung lately, huh?" Hyunjin mused from where he was sprawled out on Minho's bed. The younger had invited himself in and plopped down thirty minutes ago and watched Minho sharpen his blades, but hadn't said a word until now.</p><p>"Yes. I believe he's become closest to them," Minho looks up from his polished silver dagger, "maybe its a youngest thing." </p><p>Hyunjin pouted, plump bottom lip sticking out. "I'm not much older than them..." </p><p>"Is Hyunjinnie jealous he isn't getting Felix's attention as much?" Minho set his blade down on a foldable table he covered with a black velvet cloth, next to a line of already sharpened and polished blades of all kinds, but none of them were larger than four inches. Assassination was a covert art. Big weapons would just be harder to hide on his person.</p><p>The blonde groaned, rolling onto his back. "Shut up. I see them cuddling together all the time in Jeongin's alcove, and Jisung is always all over him. He's your boyfriend! I don't understand why you aren't more jealous than I am, honestly."</p><p>Minho shrugged, crossing his legs in his seat. He picked up another knife, this one thin and only three inches. He ran the edge along the sharpening steel, the sharp <em>ching</em> of the blade dragging across it ringing throughout the room. "He's also dating Changbin and sort of Chan, you know."</p><p>Hyunjin's head rolled to the side, eyebrow raised, "and my point just gains more ground to stand on." </p><p>Minho leaned back, switching the sharpening steel out for a rag with polish on it. "I'm not jealous because I have nothing to worry about. I love Jisung, and I know Jisung loves me. It just so happens that he has enough room in his heart to love more than one person, too," Minho smiled fondly, dragging the cloth along the edge of the blade carefully, "I get plenty of Jisung's attention, anyway." </p><p>"I want him to be comfortable with us," Hyunjin said quietly, sadness lacing his voice. Minho sighed, setting his things down on the table. He turned in his chair to face the blonde.</p><p>"It's only been like, two months Hyunjin. He'll need more time than that," Minho frowned, sending Hyunjin a judgmental look as he turned in his seat to face him, "be patient. You shouldn't expect his issues to go away in such a short amount of time." </p><p>At that, Hyunjin flushed from guilt, turning his head away in shame. Minho could understand his impatience, though. Felix was a very endearing person - it was difficult to hold back from rushing in too fast. They'd have to continue going at Felix's pace. What's the saying, slow and steady wins the race? </p><p>"We've made progress. He's made progress," Minho returns to polishing his weapon, stopping only when his reflection becomes clear in the metal, "that's what's important."</p><p>"I know that," Hyunjin muttered, arm thrown over his eyes. </p><p>The older finished tending to his weapons, putting each one back in their dark wooden boxes, sinking into their spots made in the puffy red lining. The fronts of the boxes had a glass window to see them through, which he always made sure to keep clean and clear. He placed them back onto his abstract-shaped shelves, then dragged a box out from under his bed. He tossed the polisher and rag inside, then slid it back underneath. </p><p>The door creaked open. Speak of the devil...</p><p>Though, that wasn't quite accurate, not really. Felix wasn't a devil. He wanted to describe him as an angel, but that didn't quite fit right, either. </p><p>
  <em>Back facing the open window. Tousled, soft blonde hair near-white, shining in the moonlight. Dark eyes, porcelain skin, perched on the body of a man he bloodied his hands with, promising demise.</em>
</p><p>An angel of death, would be more precise. beautiful but deadly, a windstorm of devastation, and just as unstoppable. </p><p>"We made food, if you guys want to come to the kitchen," Felix informed, swamped in an oversized black hoodie, soft and deceitful. Minho had seen first hand how dangerous Felix could be, had nearly been a recipient. It was amazing how much ferocity was hidden behind such a fairy-like appearance. </p><p>Minho smiled while Hyunjin launched himself off the bed towards the door.</p><p>"Thanks for coming to get us, Lix," Minho said as they followed the youngest to the kitchen. </p><p>"You're welcome," he replied, smiling softly.</p><p>Sitting at the table, watching the people he considered his family bicker and joke and smile as they ate the meal Felix and Seungmin prepared, filled his chest with butterflies, his heart with love. There would always be the empty space Yedam used to fill, and though their family would never feel complete again without him - even with the addition of Felix - it felt like they were finally moving forwards. </p><p>
  <em>
    <b>May 22nd, Chan.</b>
  </em>
</p><p>One thing Chan really appreciated about Felix's presence is how it felt like he had a little piece of home. The familiar accent he had almost lost, the language, the stories, the references. Seungmin, Jisung and Hyunjin weren't bad at English, but they were far from fluent. Seungmin came close, but not quite. It was nice to have someone he could have full conversations with in his native tongue. </p><p>He could hear Australia in his voice, see it in the freckles imprinted on his skin from the hot sun. He hadn't been to Australia in a long time, but he wasn't missing it as much now that Felix was with them. </p><p>Also, Felix had taken to calling Chan by his English name, and he didn't know exactly how he felt about it.</p><p>"Chris! Changbin!" Felix called out from the basement stairs, and Chan looked up from his weights to see the younger bound into the room, dressed in ripped black jeans, a white untucked dress shirt, and an oversized navy blue cardigan with white stitching. "we're all planning on going to the mall. Want to come with?"</p><p>Changbin nodded. "Sure, just let me finish my reps and change."</p><p>"Me too. We won't be long, we're almost done," Chan smiled, looking back down towards his arm, veins popping as he lifted the weight again. </p><p>"Alright, see you guys upstairs," Felix said, then retreated. Chan watched the younger's back as he disappeared up the stairs. </p><p>If Chan finished his reps a little faster than usual, Changbin didn't mention it. The two put the weights back, cleaned sweat off the equipment, then headed upstairs. Chan fanned himself with his shirt as they walked down the hall. "Do you think Minho's going to try to dress Jisung and Felix up?" Chan wondered out loud, remembering the last time they went shopping as a group. </p><p>Minho had had a field day, picking out clothing and making outfits for Jisung to try on. It had taken hours, and in the end Jisung ended up only buying a third of what he tried on, and Jisung passed out immediately upon returning home. </p><p>"Probably," Changbin smirked, "it was like watching a child play dress-up with dolls. I'm surprised Jisung even agreed to go shopping with him again. I hope he's warned Felix." </p><p>Chan laughed, then they parted to change into fresh clothes. Chan's entire wardrobe was comprised of black fabric, so he had no worry color-coordinating. He threw on a pair of jeans, doc martins, a sweater, and a hat. </p><p>When he got to the main room, Changbin was already there, dressed colorfully and waiting.</p><p>"Alright, lets go!" Hyunjin said cheerfully, linking arms with Changbin and Seungmin, dragging them out the door. Jeongin settled up beside Minho and Jisung, while Chan brought up the rear of their little group with Felix. </p><p>"I'm excited. I haven't hung out in public with a whole group like this yet," Felix commented, but Chan was stuck on one word. </p><p><em>A</em> whole group? Meaning he's never hung out with <em>any</em> group before? </p><p>How the hell was he living his life before them?</p><p>Maybe he was reading too much into everything Felix says, putting too much meaning behind such menial words. Maybe he was projecting his suspicions about his past onto everything he says, creating an inaccurate and angsty narrative of this boy's life. Suspicions they were full of, but facts they had none.</p><p>"No? Well, I promise you're going to have a lot of fun!" Chan said with faked cheeriness. The younger had a slight skip to his step and a sparkle in his eye, giving away his excitement. Chan ruffled his hair, secretly glad that Felix had become more animated over the last few months. </p><p>"Beware, though. Minho might make you try on hundreds of outfits." </p><p>"What? Why?" Felix glances between the back of Minho's head and Chan.</p><p>"He thinks it's fun. Coming up with outfits, I mean," Chan says, leaving out the part where Minho just takes satisfaction in having creative liberty over cute boys wardrobes.</p><p>"I see," Felix puts his hands in his pockets, "I guess I don't mind."</p><p>"Good attitude," Chan smiled, slinging and arm around the younger's shoulders. Felix didn't pull away, only slightly leaned into it, unknowingly bringing Chan great joy. </p><p>They walked like that the rest of the way to the mall, Felix pressed against his side, chatting and joking with the others. The doors to the mall opened, welcoming them with cool air-conditioning. </p><p>"Now lets get our shop on!" Hyunjin cheered, "where are we going first?"</p><p>"I'm kinda hungry," Jeongin says, raising his hand slightly as if they're in a classroom setting. </p><p>"We can get something to eat first," Chan says, guiding his group up the escalator to the food court. </p><p>"I'll claim a table," Minho says, immediately spotting a free one that could seat all of them through the sea of people before he disappears in its direction. </p><p>"I vote Chan-hyung treats us!" Jisung exclaims, and before Chan has a chance to protest, everyone is agreeing with him, clinging onto his arms and whining with their best puppy-dog faces. And because Chan is a weak, weak man, he gives in.</p><p>Chan takes out his wallet, then divides his money up between them. Financially, they are all very well off, so this isn't really putting a dent in his account. The kids just like to abuse the fact that he's the oldest and responsible for them.</p><p>"There you all go. Stay in pairs, don't wander off on your own," Chan sighs, and everyone disperses with cheers and giggles. He feels a presence at his side, and turns to see Felix. </p><p>Felix seems to notice his confusion. "You said not to wander off on your own. That includes you," Felix says sheepishly, and Chan fights back the urge to woo at his sweetness.</p><p>"Awe, Lix, you care about my well-being?" Chan teases, nudging the youngers shoulder with his own playfully. Felix huffs, tugging on his sleeve.</p><p>"Maybe I do," The blonde admits, leading Chan over to one of the food stalls selling a sweeter selection, "I care about everyone's well-being."</p><p>"We're glad," Chan says with a smile and butterflies in his stomach, looping his arm with Felix's, "we care about yours, too."</p><p>
  <em>May 22nd, Minho.</em>
</p><p>Excitement was thrumming through Minho's veins. </p><p>Minho himself didn't buy food. More food meant more time they'd have to spend eating, so he bummed bites off of the others bowls and plates. That way he wouldn't go hungry, and they finished in the food court quicker. It was a win-win, where both wins went to him. </p><p>"Alright! Felix, Jisung, you're with me," Minho says immediately once they're all finished eating. Felix follows willingly, but Jisung protests, whining as Minho drags him by his arm. Minho looks over his shoulder at the others, "feel free to join us." </p><p>Almost instantly, everyone is on their feet. Minho held back a smirk. They might not admit it, but they were looking forward to this as much as Minho was. "In here, first," Minho said, directing his victims into a clothing store that focused mostly on casual wear. </p><p>"I don't want to spend hours doing this again," Jisung complained, held in place by Changbin so he wouldn't make a break for it, "Let me go, free me. I've suffered through this once, I don't need to do it again. Have mercy, please."</p><p>"Keep your begging kink out of the store," Seungmin mumbled, earning a scandalized shriek from their captive. Minho ignores his boyfriend, rifling through racks to pick out an assortment of outfits. </p><p>Felix goes off with Jeongin to explore the store themselves, while Jisung goes boneless in Changbin's hold, forcing the older to literally drag him around. twenty minutes later, and Minho has clothes draped over both arms. "Felix, Jisung, to the changerooms!" Minho calls out. Felix appears with Seungmin in toe from behind another rack, while Changbin and Chan struggled with a revived, floundering Jisung.</p><p>"That's a lot," Felix says as Minho hands him all the clothes off one arm. The older just shoves him into one of the changerooms impatiently. </p><p>"You're eager," Seungmin comments with a raised eyebrow, leaning with a foot up on the wall beside him, arms crossed. Jisung is dragged around the corner and Minho hands the clothes off to him before he enters a changeroom, defeated. </p><p>"So were all of you," Minho retorts with a knowing smirk. </p><p>"Hush," Seungmin shrugs right as Felix asks through the door, "do i have to come out each time?"</p><p>"Yes, please. We'd like to see," Jeongin says, and the door opens after a prolonged moment. </p><p>The outfit Felix chose was tight ripped black jeans and a large open white lab-style coat overtop a black long sleeved turtleneck. Minho nodded in satisfaction. </p><p>"I feel like a barbie doll. It's weird," Felix mentions, tucking his hands into the pockets of the coat. He's shifting his weight from foot to foot awkwardly, won't meet their eyes, and Minho realizes he's nervous. </p><p>Ah. They might've touched a nerve. Maybe this wasn't a good idea, after all.</p><p>"It's okay if you don't want to try any more on, or don't want to come out each time. That's a lot of back and forth," Minho mends, trying to sound as sincere as possible. Changbin sends him a questioning look, wondering why he's backtracked so quickly, but he ignores it. </p><p>Felix nods, then turns back into the changeroom. </p><p>"Do I get an out too?" Jisung yells desperately through the door. Minho rolls his eyes, but relents, and then his boyfriend is dramatically falling out of the stall and into the wall. "Traitors, all of you!"</p><p>"Awe, Sungie, don't be dramatic," Changbin says, "anyway, Seungmin, Chan and I are gonna go hit up Zara. Peace." </p><p>"Don't cause too much trouble," Chan says as they depart.</p><p>"Are you still trying on clothes, Felix?" Jeongin asks. </p><p>"Yeah, I'm just not coming out," He replies, "you guys don't have to wait for me, you know." </p><p>"Nah, it's fine. We don't mind. We all came here together, after all," Jisung says, without looking up from the video he's showing Hyunjin on his phone. Felix doesn't respond, but Minho thinks he might be smiling. </p><p>The rest of the day goes off without a hitch, in his opinion. Sure, Jeongin almost crashed into a display case on a mechanical lion car made for children, and <em>sure</em>, they all got stuck in the photo booth, but it's whatever. It's fine, they definitely didn't get kicked out.</p><p>Anyway.</p><p>Minho couldn't stop thinking about earlier. He wanted to ask Felix what was wrong, but didn't know how to approach him. They had all gone off to their own rooms to put their purchases away, but here Minho was, standing like a loser outside of Felix's door. </p><p>"Azrael, can I come in?" He asks, and opens the door upon hearing a muffled 'yeah' in return.</p><p>Felix was just lying on his back on the bed, staring at the ceiling in thought. Minho briefly admired his side profile before he sat down on the edge of his mattress. "You okay? Sorry if we made you uncomfortable earlier," Minho frowns.</p><p>"It's fine," Felix says, waving his hand, "you guys didn't do anything wrong. I promise."</p><p>Minho purses his lips, eyebrows furrowing. He isn't buying it, but it would be wrong to pry. Felix would tell them when he was ready, and two months was too short of a time for him to be ready. "Can I lay down with you?" He asks. Felix scoots over, and Minho smiles, flopping down into the empty space.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>a high-five to whoever can figure out what Minho's nickname for Felix means</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. XVII</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"We're happy with you too, Lix." Jeongin grinned, squeezing his elbow.</p><p>"You're part of our family now, and we love you," Seungmin ruffled his hair, and Felix started crying again, this time with happy tears.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So I got a second job and I actually really like it??? Anyway that's why I haven't updated in a while. I was also figuring out plot stuff, because guess what: I only had the first four chapters planned out [insert clown emoji]</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <b>June 7th, Felix.</b>
  </em>
</p><p>Felix didn't exactly realize how fucked up he was until they went shopping as a group.</p><p>Sure, he knew he was traumatized, but he didn't think things as simple and normal as modelling clothes for his friends would affect him so much. That was a normal thing friends did. There was nothing wrong with it, and he didn't think there would be. </p><p>But he was incorrect. He had never expected that something that should have been a lot of fun had been tainted for him. The second he stepped out of the dressing room he felt like he was being displayed again, even though he knew that was never their intention. He had been fine up until that point. He thought he had uncovered all his problems, but apparently not. He had no idea how many other innocent things could be ruined for him that he didn't know about yet, and he didn't like it one bit. </p><p>"Felix, you okay? You seem kind of spaced out," Jeongin asked, finger hovering over the space button on his computer, video paused. Both he and Seungmin were looking at him with concern, and Felix wondered for how long his mind had been wandering. </p><p>Lately, Felix couldn't stop thinking. Ever since their trip to the mall, it's been eating at his mind, waiting for the next surprise activity to make him uncomfortable. Sometimes, he wondered if it would always be like this, if he'd ever be okay with such simple things like trying on clothes again. He felt hatred towards the man who ruined them for him, even though he was long dead. All he could do now was curse his grave, but that wouldn't fix anything. </p><p>He had gotten comfortable with physical touch again, though, which was probably the biggest obstacle. He never thought he would be, but here he is, snuggled up between the two youngest with no space between them. Stray Kids were different. They made him feel safe, cared for, like he belonged, like his only use wasn't just as an object. He had only known them for a couple of months, and yet...</p><p>They gave him hope that he could get better. He believed he could get better, if these people were by his side. </p><p>The sudden revelation swept his breath from his lungs. He opened his mouth to answer, but his throat tightened up on him.</p><p>"Oh, Lixie," Seungmin said, and Felix felt thumbs rub across his cheeks, "don't cry, what's the matter sweetie?"</p><p>
  <em>Ah, so that's why his vision was blurry.</em>
</p><p>Choked up. He was getting choked up. The last time he had cried was with Chris, in his room. </p><p>"I'm okay," his voice felt rough. He didn't know if he was happy or sad. He had no idea what he was feeling, but it was a lot. His eyes felt hot, his lips were quivering as salty tears slipped between the creases. </p><p>Suddenly, an arm was around his shoulder, pulling him closer to Seungmin's side. "Why are you crying if you're okay, Lix?" Jeongin asked.</p><p>His cheeks were wet. No matter how much Seungmin wiped at them, the tears kept coming. "Because you guys make me feel happy," Felix sobbed out, pushing the computer off his lap, "like I can be okay again."</p><p>Jeongin came into his field of vision. Every time Felix blinked the tears away, he could briefly see his face clearly, fox-like eyes full of sympathy. The youngest pressed a light kiss to his forehead and cuddled closer to his other side, arms around his waist and chin on his shoulder. </p><p>"Do you want to talk about it?" Seungmin asked, cheek pressed to his hair. </p><p>"I don't know. It's a lot," Felix whispered, pulling his sleeves down to wipe the wetness from his face. He knows they'd never pity him, or think he's disgusting - which he had believed himself to be for a long time. But how does he explain feeling so uncomfortable and upset in his own skin for so long, he scrubbed his body raw in the shower every opportunity he had? How does he explain the amount of anger he repressed while he waited for the right moment to escape? How does he explain the betrayal he faced? How does he explain how good it felt to feel Hartman's blood cooling on his hands without sounding insane?</p><p>"That's fine," Jeongin said quickly, rubbing circles into his hip with his thumb soothingly, "we aren't expecting anything of you. If you ever feel like you want to talk, we're always willing to listen. Everybody would be." </p><p>"We just want you to be happy, Lix," Seungmin added, "our opinion of you would never, ever change, no matter what you tell us, if you ever decide to." </p><p>"Thank you," he mumbled, voice hoarse. Felix settled his hands over theirs, puffy red eyes downcast. The three went silent, just sitting there against each other comfortingly. Felix's tears had finally stopped, leaving dry tracks over his cheeks. "I am happy, with you guys. More than I've been in a long time," he whispered after a moment.</p><p>"We're happy with you too, Lix." Jeongin grinned, squeezing his elbow.</p><p>"You're part of our family now, and we love you," Seungmin ruffled his hair, and Felix started crying again, this time with happy tears.</p><p>
  <em>
    <b>June 8th, Hyunjin.</b>
  </em>
</p><p>Things shifted again. </p><p>Hyunjin didn't know how to explain it, but Felix's demeanor seemed... More open? More lively? </p><p>He already knew Felix was comfortable with them, but now he seemed more interactive, like he was actually connecting more, taking initiative. He couldn't put a label on whatever his subconsciousness was picking up from Felix's energy, but what he did know was that whatever changed was a positive step forward. </p><p>Also, Felix was currently pressed against his back with his arms around his waist, face resting between his shoulder blades as Hyunjin attempted to make breakfast for everybody, leaving no space for God between them. He'd never been the one to hug first.</p><p>He wanted to ask what happened so badly, but the gentle rise and fall of the youngers chest against his back told him Felix was satisfied. And honestly? That was enough for Hyunjin. </p><p>"What are you making?" Felix asked, voice rumbling in his chest. </p><p>"Did you not see when you came down?" Hyunjin asked as he dipped a slice of bread into the egg wash, smiling even though Felix couldn't see it. The younger's nose brushed against his back as he shook his head. Hyunjin let the egg drip off the bread, then put it on the griddle.</p><p>"Nuh uh. Didn't look," he responded, and Hyunjin felt his heart swoon. </p><p>
  <em>That means he just went straight to hugging me holy shit that's so cute is this real or did I get drugged-?</em>
</p><p>"W-ell, I'm making french toast. Is that okay?" Hyunjin flipped the bread on the griddle.</p><p>"I love french toast," Felix said, moving in sync with Hyunjin as he cooked. </p><p>"Did you just wake up?" Hyunjin used the spatula to lift the corners of the bread and check the undersides. Satisfied, he transferred them to the slowly growing pile of french toast on a large white plate. Felix hummed a yes in response, and Hyunjin went quiet.</p><p>He imagined the scene looked very domestic, slowly shifting the weight on his feet to rock them back and forth gently as he cooked up an entire loaf of bread. Once he was done, he patted Felix's arms. "Can you go sit down, Lix? I'll bring everything over to the table." </p><p>Felix let go, and Hyunjin picked up the plate and turned around to follow the sleepy boy back to the table. Now that he could see his face, it looked puffy, especially around his eyes. Had he been crying?</p><p>"Are you okay?" Hyunjin asked, eyebrows furrowed with worry. Felix's reassuring smile dispelled all his worries, though. </p><p>"I'm fine, Jinnie. Just had a little heart-to-heart with Innie and Minnie last night."</p><p>Hyunjin set the plate on the table, then went searching for the syrup and the powdered sugar shaker. "Are they going to come down?" </p><p>"Yeah, they're just waking up. They'll grab the others, too," Felix grabbed a stack of plates out of the cupboard and set them on the table, then collected a handful of forks, "Chan and Minho have to leave early for a job, right?"</p><p>"Yep," Hyunjin says, popping the p, "do you wanna do something today, just me and you?"</p><p>"Sure," Felix said, without the hesitation he usually possessed, taking his seat at the island, "what do you have in mind?</p><p>"w-ell..." Hyunjin hummed, sitting down as well. There were plenty of things he wanted to do with Felix, like going to the waterpark, watching a movie, visiting a café... He put some french toast on his plate, then squeezed a pool of syrup on beside them. "Maybe we could just walk around the city, do whatever interests us?"</p><p>Hyunjin watched in mild horror as Felix shook a bunch of powdered sugar onto his french toast, and continued shaking it until it was covered in a solid white layer. "That sounds good. I'm excited," Felix smiled, teeth peeking out, and Hyunjin swooned. </p><p>"Your diet terrifies me," Hyunjin says, staring at Felix's food. </p><p>"You're not the only one," the younger glances up cheekily, then takes a bite of the diabetes in front of him. </p><p>"You guys already started eating without us? How rude," Minho pouted upon entering the room, followed by the rest. Jisung practically bounced over, claiming the spot beside Felix. </p><p>"Not our fault you guys are slow," Hyunjin teased, raising an eyebrow at his fellow assassin. </p><p>Running a hand through his hair, Minho cocked his hip sassily, "beauty takes time, Hyunjin, you wouldn't understand." </p><p>"Of course I wouldn't Minho, my handsome looks are effortless."</p><p>"You're both pretty, shut up and eat," Chan said, already halfway done his first slice of french toast. </p><p>Breakfast was filled with joking around, and by the end powdered sugar had ended up in at least three people's hair, and all over the table. </p><p>Every time Jeongin moved his head, white powder fell. The youngest huffed. "You guys are heathens."</p><p>"You started it!" Jisung cried, face and hair dusted with sugar as well. Every time he spoke it sent a white cloudy wisp through the air. </p><p>"You both suck," Changbin mumbled. The white powder all over him really stood out against his black wardrobe. The shortest tried to look threatening, but it wasn't really working very well. </p><p>"Well, Minho and I have to get going. decide who's gonna clean up in here," Chan said as he and Minho hurried out of the house.</p><p>They all looked at each other, the mechanical lock of the door sounding like the ring of a bell for a boxers match to start.</p><p>"Not it," Felix says, touching his nose. They all stare at him confused, before realizing this is probably a decision making ritual. </p><p>"Not it!" Hyunjin says quickly, both hands coming up to cover his nose, just a split second sooner than the rest. Changbin is last to do it, and when it looks like his accomplices were going to book it, he grabs the backs of their shirts. </p><p>"Oh no no no, you two aren't going anywhere. You're going to help me clean this up," he says, which really translates to <em>you're going to clean this up with me or else.</em></p><p>Seungmin had already disappeared, and Hyunjin realizes the younger didn't even participate. </p><p>"Sneaky bitch," he mumbled under his breath, amused. he feels a tug on his sleeve, then looks down to face Felix. </p><p>"Let's get going?" The shorter asks as Changbin wrangles Jisung and Jeongin back to the kitchen. </p><p>"Sure. Let's just get dressed first, yeah?" Hyunjin says, realizing the younger was still in his pajamas. Felix nods in agreement, then bounds back to his room, Hyunjin following behind. He waits outside the door for Felix to change and not even five minutes later Felix walks back out, wearing a knitted white turtleneck sweater, a white and black flannel overtop, and black ripped jeans. </p><p>"Alright, lets go!" Hyunjin cheers as they walk down the hall, then slip past the chaos in the kitchen to the door. </p><p>It's bright and warm outside, a gentle breeze blowing through and tousling their hair, just cool enough so they don't overheat in their layered outfits. They begin their walk down the street, staring into store fronts when something grabs their attention and petting dogs whenever they walk by.</p><p>"Want to grab something to eat?" Felix asks with an odd amount of excitement, stopping in front of a cute-looking cafe. </p><p>"Sure," Hyunjin says with a smile, leading the younger inside. Immediately, a fuzzy little creature trots up to their feet. </p><p>
  <em>Ah, so that's why he was so excited. It's a dog cafe.</em>
</p><p>Felix crouches down, smiling sweetly as he ruffled behind the small dog's ears. </p><p>"Cute," Hyunjin says, staring at Felix. </p><p>"I know, right?" Felix responds, flipping his hand over for the dog to lick it. </p><p>They go up to the front and order their food, then seat themselves by the window across from each other. A little white dog walks up to them and Felix picks it up, pressing his cheek against it. </p><p>"I've never been to a dog cafe before," The shorter says, making kissy lips at the dog.</p><p>"Oh, really? Why not?" Hyunjin asks, even though he has a pretty god idea. Perhaps he's just testing the waters, hoping the change in Felix's mood also means he'll be more open with him. </p><p>"I don't know. I never tried to go to one," the dog's tongue starts lapping at Felix's small fingers, "my mind was somewhere else." </p><p>Alright, so the good mood did not mean he was ready to confide in them. But at least that was something, even if it was delivered cryptically. </p><p>"Well now you can do whatever you want to," Hyunjin says, earning a soft smile from Felix. The waitress comes over with their drinks, Felix's chocolate cake, and Hyunjin's pie. </p><p>"Thank you," he says with a charming smile. </p><p>"You're welcome," the waitress responds, before returning behind the counter. Hyunjin turns to Felix, who's already digging into his cake, The dog sitting on the seat beside him.</p><p>"Slow down Lix, you'll get a stomach ache," Hyunjin giggles, tapping the straw of his drink against his lip before taking a sip. Felix chuckles, swallowing his bite before speaking. </p><p>"I just really like cake," Felix mumbles around the prongs of his fork. Predictably, Hyunjins eyes are drawn to his mouth.</p><p>He mentally slaps himself. <em>Cut it out, Hyunjin!</em></p><p>"I never would've guessed," he teases, earning a playful eyeroll from the blonde. </p><p>They finished eating relatively quickly. When they set out that morning they intended to hit a few places at least, but instead the rest of their time was spent sitting on the floor and playing with dogs together, getting dog hair all over their clothes. Hyunjin couldn't help but watch Felix the whole time. He looked so happy sitting there, surrounded by dogs, eyes sparkling and grin pure. He looked problem-free.</p><p>Perhaps he snuck a few pictures. Coincidentally, it was about time he had set a new phone background.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. XVIII</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Suddenly, Changbin had an idea. "Want to have a little competition?" He asked, running his thumb along the barrel of his gun. </p><p>At that, Felix seemed intrigued. "What sort of competition are we talking?"</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>yeah i pulled the gun scene straight from Psych. it just works so perfectly</p><p>anyway!! some more one on one interactions. Felix is on a good quality bonding time hunt</p><p>also! i made a twitter account ;) https://twitter.com/HugShapedFelix</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <b>June 10th, Changbin</b>
  </em>
</p><p>Hyunjin had boasted about his not-date with Felix all day yesterday. Now, Changbin was telling the complete, absolute truth when he denied being jealous. </p><p>And then Felix came up to him and asked if he wanted to hang out, just them, and Changbin was still okay, because he was never jealous in the first place. </p><p>So here they were, at the gun range, feeding bullets into their handguns. </p><p>"You any good with a gun?" Changbin asked, one earplug out to hear Felix's response. </p><p>Felix smirked, leaning against the wall as Changbin situated himself. "Lets find out."</p><p>When Felix first suggested visiting the gun range, Changbin became curious. They already knew Felix was proficient in hand-to-hand and assassination, so was he talented in any other areas? </p><p>Felix struck him as a jack of all trades type. There was just something about him and his mystery that made you think he wasn't revealing all his hands. Like he shuffled a deck, laid the cards facedown in front of you, and instructed you to pick one. Only, he somehow knew which cards were which. </p><p>Changbin shoved the earplugs in and slid the protective goggles off his forehead over his eyes, took his position in front of the firing lane, and held up his gun. The target was as far back as it could go. Changbin never liked to have it closer. If it was closer, it eliminated the challenge.</p><p>Both eyes open Changbin took aim, then fired off six shots, piercing the paper and bullet trap behind it. </p><p>He set his gun down and took out his earplugs, then pressed the button to bring the sheet forwards. Felix moved beside him, palm pressing his weight against the diaphragm-level bench. </p><p>"You're good," Felix said, eyebrow raised as he examined the target. Changbin smirked, proud that he had impressed him. </p><p>there were six holes all along the bullseye and inner ring. Changbin was confident in his ability as a marksman. He'd been wielding guns for years - anything worse simply wouldn't be acceptable. </p><p>"Might want a new sheet," Changbin said, moving to unclip it. </p><p>"No, it's fine," Felix waved him off, "I'll use this one." </p><p>Changbin shrugged, but stepped away, clicking the button to send it back. </p><p>Felix put his earplugs in, then situated himself. Changbin studied his position. Sturdy arms, chapman stance... Clearly experienced, despite his earlier comment. A second afterwards, Felix fired off six shots in quick succession, only moving his hands around slightly between them.</p><p>Felix set his gun down beside Changbins, leaning forward over the bench again, arms crossed over it. Changbin peered at the sheet. There were still only six holes. Had he been wrong?</p><p>"You missed," Changbin said questioningly, pressing the button to bring the sheet forwards again. </p><p>Felix clicked his tongue, "did I?"</p><p>The older squinted, leaning beside Felix as he peered at the target sheet. It came to a stop in front of him. </p><p>"Woah," Changbin awed, impressed. next to each of his bullet holes was another one, with slight overlap to form the void space of a venn diagram. </p><p>"Look at that," Felix mused, "a perfect pair." </p><p>Changbin gulped at the insinuation. Felix probably didn't mean it that way, but it still had his heart jumping in his chest. "Where did you learn to shoot?" He asked, taking the sheet down. </p><p>"Little bit of research, and a lot of hands-on practice," Felix said, removing his protective equipment. </p><p>Suddenly, Changbin had an idea. "Want to have a little competition?" He asked, running his thumb along the barrel of his gun. </p><p>At that, Felix seemed intrigued. "What sort of competition are we talking?" </p><p>"There's a training course here," he said, and Felix's eyes widened as he figured it out, "whoever earns the highest score can demand one thing of the other."</p><p>"You're on," Felix smiled, and Changbin led him away.</p><p> </p><p>"You have three minutes max to complete the course. If you miss a target, points are added. The goal is to get the lower score. Once you're inside, a timer will count down, and then you can start," the instructor explained, "full disclosure, there are flashing lights to make it harder. Are either of you Epileptic?"</p><p>"Nope," Felix says, popping the p. Changbin shakes his head.</p><p>"Alright, then I'll leave you two to it," the instructor says, then leaves the room to enter the observation booth. </p><p>"You can go first," Felix says immediately, already claiming the advantage. </p><p>Changbin rolls his eyes, but relents. The guns they're using are simple paintball ones, just to make sure people stay safe. There's a lot of metal involved in the course, and the establishment doesn't need any lawsuits on their hands because a bullet decided to ricochet. </p><p>"See you on the other side, soldier," Felix says with a salute, cat-like lips curling up in a smile at the edges. </p><p>The door closes behind him. The timer counts down from five, big red miliseconds changing rapidly. Changbin raises his gun, and the buzzer goes.</p><p>He moves forwards swiftly, through the dark maze. As the instructor said, there are red, blue, and green lights flashing, distorting the course around him and making it difficult to see when targets pop up. He shoots them without fail, though, reaction time barely stalled. </p><p>As the course progressed, targets popped up more frequently. He didn't have as much time to shoot them, only a few seconds each before their timers ran out and they disappeared again. Eventually it progressed until they were only visible for a single second, and Changbin cursed as he missed a couple. </p><p>He reached the end of the course, and a buzzer went again. the lights stopped flashing as the door opened. </p><p>"What did I get?" Changbin asked, squinting as his eyes adjusted to the light of the room.</p><p>Felix pointed at the display. "A minute forty-three. Good job." </p><p>Changbin smirked, satisfied with his first try performance. "Good luck beating that." </p><p>"I don't need luck," Felix grinned, then entered the course. </p><p>Changbin didn't have a means to see what's happening inside. All he could do was watch the timer, a screen displaying red numbers much like the one at the start of the course. </p><p>A minute passed, and Felix still hadn't exited. Changbin wondered what he'd have Felix do. Bake him a personal batch of cookies? Reserve a cuddle session? </p><p>Cuddle session sounded nice. Very nice. </p><p>The buzzer interrupted his daydream, and Changbin swung around to look at the timer again as Felix exited. <em>A minute forty.</em></p><p>
  <em>There goes his Felix cuddles.</em>
</p><p>"Well would you look at that. You're indebted to me," Felix smiled, sidling up beside him and throwing an arm over his shoulder. </p><p>
  <em>Wait.</em>
</p><p>"Wait," he said aloud, remembering something, "these aren't our final scores."</p><p>Felix went quiet, then hummed low in his throat in realization. </p><p>The instructor came out, two sheets of paper in his hands. "Your times act as normal test scores. So Changbin, your score is one-hundred forty-three, and Felix's is one-hundred forty. For every target you missed, three points are added." </p><p>Changbin nodded in understanding, just as eager as Felix to hear the results. </p><p>"Changbin missed two targets, one-hundred and forty-nine. Felix missed four targets, one-hundred fifty-two." </p><p>Changbin whooped. <em>Felix cuddles!</em> </p><p>Felix sighed beside him, but continued smiling nonetheless. "You win, Binnie. Whatever will you have me do?"</p><p>They traded their goggles, earplugs and guns for the papers, then were led out by the instructor. They retrieved their own guns, the ones not filled with harmless paint. "I don't know, Lix..." Changbin said, stroking his chin as he pretended to ponder, "I wonder, I wonder?" </p><p>Their whole way out of the facility, Felix was clinging to him, showing off his puppy eyes in attempt to wrangle an answer out of Changbin. The older did not give in, because he wasn't a weak-minded love-struck fool like Jisung. Changbin felt very impressed with himself and his self-control. </p><p>"I'll tell you when we get home, okay?" Changbin bartered. Seemingly satisfied with that, Felix released his arm, gingerly holding his hand instead. </p><p><em>Today is a great day,</em> Changbin thought, reveling in the feeling of Felix's small, soft hand in his. <em>Great indeed.</em></p><p> </p><p>Upon returning home, Felix toed off his shoes and faced Changbin expectantly. The sharpshooter sighed, arranging their shoes at the door before leading Felix over to the couch. </p><p>"I wish for cuddles," he finally revealed, sitting down on the couch with his arms out, "get over here."</p><p>Felix looked like he hadn't expected that answer, but smiled and moved forwards nonetheless. He threw himself on top of Changbin, sending the older toppling onto his back. He wrapped his arms around Felix's waist, stuck on how it fit so nicely in his hold. Felix smelled like strawberries and whatever flowery fabric softener he uses, soft hair tickling his cheek from his head's place over his shoulder. Everything about him was so soft and huggable. </p><p>"Just cuddles? You don't want me to buy you something expensive, or cover for you next time you cause the hot tub to malfunction?" Felix asks, arms bent and tucked against Changbins sides. </p><p>"That wasn't me," He defended, "I swear I wasn't the one to add that much chlorine." </p><p>Felix giggled, vibrating through their chests. "Whatever you say, Binnie."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. XIX</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>But now it was <em>his</em> turn for the Felix date. </p><p>It seems Felix is on a mission to get some one-on-one time with everyone though, so he really shouldn't feel as special as he does.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>so this kinda just happened</p><p>heres a real chapter instead of a prank</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em> <b>June 13th, Jisung.</b> </em>
</p><p>According to Changbin, Felix was some sort of weaponry genius. Jisung had never felt so betrayed before, as a fellow weaponry enthusiast. He would've loved to see Felix's sharpshooter skills. He would've loved to spend time with Felix alone in general. Maybe cop a hand-hold.</p><p>But now it was <em>his</em> turn for the Felix date.</p><p>It seems Felix is on a mission to get some one-on-one time with everyone though, so he really shouldn't feel as special as he does.</p><p>"I wanted to go to the park nearby with you," Felix explains, tugging Jisung along down the sidewalk by the hand, "there's a cute pond with ducks."</p><p><em>You're a cute pond with ducks,</em> Jisungs love-horny brain supplies stupidly.</p><p>Perhaps Jisung's love-horny brain has just been conditioned to associate the word 'cute' with Felix, no matter what its followed by.</p><p>"Are we allowed to feed the ducks?" He asks, squeezing Felix's soft hand gently. <em>Hand-hold: Copped.</em></p><p>"Not really, but I brought peas and oats. Feeding them bread isn't good because it isn't nutritious for them. If it's left alone it also grows mold and spreads bacteria and pollutes the lake," the blonde says, huffing a little, "the only reason we aren't allowed to feed them is because people don't know what to <em>actually</em> feed them."</p><p>Jisung thinks Felix's passion for proper duck-feeding is hopelessly endearing. Everything he does is endearing. It's a problem. For his brain and his heart.</p><p>"Well I'm glad the ducks have you to make sure they're fed properly," he bump's Felix's shoulder with his own playfully. When they reach the park, Felix makes a beeline for the pond. He crouches by the edge, and immediately a raft of ducks paddle up to him. He swings his bag around to the front and unzips it, pulling out bags of thawed peas and oats.</p><p>Jisung sits criss-cross beside him, accepting the oats. "Use this, too," Felix says, holding a small bottle of sparkly blue hand sanitizer upside down. Jisung tucks the oats under his arm and puts his hand under it for Felix to squeeze a few drops into his palm before doing it for himself. They rub it into their hands, then fill their palms with their respective duck-treat.</p><p>"Awe, there's baby ducks too!" Jisung grins, leaning over farther so the baby ducks can reach. He feels the urge to pick one up and cradle in in his palms.</p><p>"I know, right? It's such a struggle to not just scoop one up." Felix has a big smile on his face, pouring more peas into his hand. His teeth are fully showing, eyes crinkling, and Jisung's sure that from an outside perspective one would think they're dating with how softly Jisung is staring at the younger.</p><p>"Can I kiss you?" He blurts. Felix freezes. Jisung leans back so fast he almost falls over, slapping a hand over his mouth in panic, realizing what he'd said.</p><p>
  <em>Oh no, he fucked up, he fucked up so bad. Everyone's going to be so mad. Felix is going to freak out. All that progress we made-</em>
</p><p>"Yes."</p><p>
  <em>-Is down the drain, how could he say that? shit fuck shitfuckfuck-</em>
</p><p>
  <em>-What?</em>
</p><p>"What?" Jisung asks, his panic thoughts coming to a halt, dumbfounded. Felix is fiddling with his fingers, a soft blush on his cheeks, eyes resolutely fixed on the ducks. Neither of them move, either too embarrassed or too shocked.</p><p>"I said yes," Felix whispers, still not looking at him. It takes a solid minute for Jisung's brain to process this information. Which seems to be too long, because Felix begins fidgeting anxiously.</p><p>"You know what? Never mind, you probably didn't mean-"</p><p>"Felix."</p><p>The youngers mouth snaps shut. Jisung moves forwards, taking Felix's hands in his, rubbing his thumbs over his knuckles. "Look at me, please." The blonde swallows, tongue peeking out to wet his lips before turning his head. Felix looks scared, even a little flighty.</p><p>"Can I kiss you?" Jisung asks again, staring into his eyes, just wanting to be sure. Felix needs to know he meant it, and he needs Felix to actually want it.</p><p><em>"Yes,"</em> Felix nods, resolute, "you can."</p><p>Jisung breaks out into a smile, raising his hands to cup his cheeks, "I'm going to lean in, okay?"</p><p>Felix giggles, closing his eyes. Jisung tilts forwards slowly, brushing his lips against Felix's. Plush lips fall open slightly, light breaths mixing with his own. Finally, Jisung presses forwards. Felix's lips fit so nicely against his own, slightly chapped from nervous biting, but soft nonetheless. They move against each other gently, shyly, not wanting to take it too far.</p><p>When they part and Jisung looks into Felix's starry eyes, Jisung thinks his stupid love-horny brain wasn't so stupid after all. He rests his forehead against Felix's as they break out into giggles.</p><p>"Thank you," Jisung says, pushing the blondes hair back to press another kiss to his forehead.</p><p>"What for?" Felix questions, breathless.</p><p>"For giving us a chance," Jisung pulls back and sits down, close enough for their thighs to brush, "for trusting us."</p><p>Weight falls onto his shoulder, blonde hair brushing his neck. The ducks have scattered, probably because they weren't being fed anymore. Felix links their fingers again, resting their hands on his knee.</p><p>"Thank <em>you</em> for caring," he murmurs.</p><p>"Never thank us for caring, Lix." Jisung gazes out at the pond, the baby ducks trailing behind their mother. He thinks he hears Felix sniffle, but doesn't look down to check. They sit there in bliss for a while, enjoying each others presence.</p><p>"Think the ducks are going to come back?" Jisung asks.</p><p>Felix's head falls forward in a laugh. "I don't think so, want to hit up the swings?" Standing up, Felix brushes the grass off the seat of his pants. Jisung clips the bags of oats and peas closed, dropping them into the bag and zipping it up.</p><p>He stands. "Oh, hell yeah. I'm going to go so much higher than you."</p><p>"You think so, huh?" Felix teases, a playful challenge in his voice.</p><p>They race to the swings. Felix reached them a second faster, chains jangling in his fists.</p><p>"It's because I'm carrying your bag! It threw me off!" Jisung defends uselessly, pouting as he sits down.</p><p>"Sure, Sung. For argument's sake, lets say I believe you," Felix pushes himself back until he's on his tip-toes, then lifts his feet to swing forward, "take the bag off and swing higher than me."</p><p>"That was always the goal, sweetie," Jisung smirks, dropping the bag to the ground. Felix blushes at the nickname, now that it's got more romantic connotations than platonic.</p><p>Soon enough they're swinging at the same height. Every time they cross paths they try to grab at each others chains to slow them down, just brief touches so their fingers don't get ripped off or they don't slow themselves down. When it looks like they've reached the point the only higher they can go is swinging fully around, Jisung calls a truce. "Alright, alright! Let's stop now before we get ourselves killed!"</p><p>"That sounds like an admittance of defeat to me," Felix grins, but stops pumping his legs anyway the the momentum can die down. Slowly they come to a stop.</p><p>"Is Minho going to be okay with... You know..." Felix mumbles, glancing over.</p><p>"Yeah," Jisung nods, blue hair brushing against his forehead, "we sort of have an open relationship. I'm also dating Chan and Changbin. Minho isn't dating them, though."</p><p>"I figured," Felix shrugs, toeing at the rocks under their feet, "just had to check."</p><p>Jisung turns sideways to face him, chains twisting. He grabs at the excess of the leather seat of Felix's swing, pulling him closer. "We all love each other, you know? Just some differently than others. I just happen to love multiple people... In that way."</p><p>"Am I..." Felix pauses, worrying his lip between his teeth.</p><p>"Yeah," Jisung says without hesitation, eyes boring into the freckled boy's profile, "you are."</p><p>Felix looks up at him then, lip quivering. "Really?" He questions, voice cracking. Jisung can feel his heart break a little again in Felix's place. "Even if I'm messed up?"</p><p>Felix deserved all the love in the world.</p><p>"Yes," Jisung assures, trying to convey everything he's feeling in his voice and gaze as he stares into Felix's eyes for the second time that day, "I really do love you, Lix. I really do. You aren't messed up, sweetie, just healing."</p><p>Felix seems to deflate, then, shoulders falling forwards. Jisung stands so he can move in front of him, wrapping his arms around the boy's shoulders. "Let's go home, okay? We can watch a movie and cuddle."</p><p>The blonde takes a deep breath, then stands. Jisung takes his hand, then grabs their bag.</p><p>"Thank you," Felix whispers as they walk down the path, pulling him a little closer to his side.</p><p>"For what?"</p><p>"Being here."</p><p>Jisung smiles, tone joking but warm, "Never thank us for that, either."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>If u wanna scream at me on twitter,,, <a>twt</a></p><p>19 chapters, 34 000+ words, and we finally have our first kiss</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. XX</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Instead, the younger let out a slow breath. "Come on, lets go spar," he turned away. Chan could see how hard it was for the other to leave in his stiff posture and troubled eyes.</p>
<p>With one last look to the door, Chan followed.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>we get some backstory!!</p>
<p>anyway follow me on <a href="https://twitter.com/HugShapedFelix">twt</a><br/>just not if you're a minor pls stay away</p>
<p>Also i wasnt rocking w my ugly titles so i changed them to roman numerals</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <b>June 14th, Felix.</b>
  </em>
</p>
<p>So. He kissed Jisung. Jisung kissed him. Jisung wanted to kiss him, and to his surprise, Felix did too. </p>
<p>They <em>kissed.</em></p>
<p>
  <em>He actually kissed someone.</em>
</p>
<p>Yesterday had just been so sweet. When the squirrel-like boy suddenly blurted his desire, Felix was, of course, taken aback. But the idea hadn't made him recoil in disgust, hadn't summoned the phantom feel or memories of unwanted lips on his. He hadn't thought much about kissing Jisung, kissing any of them really, despite the fluttery feeling he got in his stomach occasionally, still too scared to accept intimacy of that nature back into his life. He wouldn't allow himself the luxury. But then Jisung asked, actually asked, and Felix <em>wasn't against the idea.</em></p>
<p>But it was in his head now. He kind of thought it might be nice to kiss Jisung. Or maybe it was just the fact that it was <em>Jisung.</em></p>
<p>Jisung, who also said he loved him. Jisung, with stars in his eyes and a heart of gold loved him - Guarded, fucked up, broken Felix. </p>
<p>No, not broken. 'Healing.'</p>
<p>Is this what shock feels like?</p>
<p>Said boy was asleep beside him, features softened with sleep, warmth radiating off him. Felix had been awake for a while now. Thinking. </p>
<p>He felt surprisingly calm. His heart wasn't jack-hammering in his chest, beating his ribs so hard it felt like they would bruise. Every molecule in his body was accepting, instead of screaming at him to <em>run, it's dangerous, defend yourself.</em></p>
<p>"Stop thinking so loud, Lix," Jisung's voice broke through his thoughts. Felix zoned back in, the others eyes now open and on him. </p>
<p>"You can't hear thoughts. Thoughts are silent, Sung. Thoughts are secret." </p>
<p>"Mind letting me in on them, then?" Jisung asked, cracking a soft smile. </p>
<p>"I was thinking about yesterday," Felix admitted.</p>
<p>"Do you regret it?" The other asked, sounding a tad insecure. Which was unacceptable. </p>
<p>"No," Felix denied quickly, shaking his head, "I don't." </p>
<p>He sighed with relief. "Good," a hand reached forwards to take his, lacing their fingers together against the sheets, "because I've wanted to do it for a long time."</p>
<p>"You have?" Felix asked curiously. It was pleasing to know it wasn't just an impulsive development. </p>
<p>At that, Jisung seemed a little sheepish. He nodded, biting his lip. Felix used his free hand to pull it out with his thumb, resting his palm against his jaw. "You'll chap them," he mumbled. </p>
<p>Jisung blushed, turning his head to press a soft kiss to the meaty part of his palm. It was a hopelessly sweet gesture, innocent in nature, but made his heart swoop nonetheless. </p>
<p>"I told you I love you," Jisung mumbled. It hit Felix that typically, people are expected to give an answer back. Preferably a reciprocation. But...</p>
<p>"Jisung... I-"</p>
<p>"Shh, sweetie, let me finish," he interrupted, tapping a finger against Felix's lips. His mouth clamped shut.</p>
<p>"I told you I love you," Jisung repeated, looking into his eyes, "it's okay if you don't say it back. I'd never expect that of you. Love is a strong word, after all. Love takes time. What we have right now is okay, even if we don't label it. Even if you never want to kiss me again. The ball is in your court, Felix, and I'll wait forever if that's what you want from me."</p>
<p>Sometimes, Felix truly wondered how he'd gotten so lucky with them. Maybe it was karma feeling apologetic for ruining the majority of his life. </p>
<p>"It's okay if you kiss me," Felix muttered softly, "just... Ask first." </p>
<p>"Of course!" Jisung grinned, a hand to his chest, "I'm a gentleman." </p>
<p>"Well, I don't know about that," Felix joked, earning a betrayed gasp from the boy. They giggled together, only dying down after a few minutes. Jisung went silent, and Felix felt he still had something to say. Sometimes Jisung did that - opening his mouth just slightly, breathing out, then shutting it. Ever since he, Jisung and Minho played Little Big Planet.</p>
<p>"What is it?" He prodded. </p>
<p>"Mind if I ask you something serious?" Ah, familiar words. Before he was wary, but now he was also curious. </p>
<p>"Sure. Can't guarantee an answer though."</p>
<p>"That's fine. You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to." Jisung reaffirmed. Sure, he'd heard that nobody would push him for answers from Jeongin and Seungmin, but it was reassuring to have it confirmed by another source. Jisung licked his lips nervously. </p>
<p>"That day we found you... What were you and Woojin talking about?" </p>
<p>Felix went still. "You saw that?" He whispered. </p>
<p>"I was watching with binoculars through the window. That's how we knew about you," he explained, "It's just been on my mind. You don't have to answer." </p>
<p>The thing is, he wanted to. He'd been thinking about how ever since his realization with the two youngest. He wasn't ready to tell them everything, not yet, so he should start small. </p>
<p>"I knew him," Felix rolled onto his back, but could still feel Jisung's eyes on his face, attention solely on him, "we... have history."</p>
<p>Jisung swallowed, throat bobbing. "What... What kind of history?"</p>
<p>"The bad kind," Felix whispered, unable to elaborate further. It felt like his throat was closing up, choking him with the truth. "The really bad kind."</p>
<p>Silence. Felix could tell Jisung was beyond curious, but knew not to ask for elaboration.</p>
<p>"We have history with him, too. The really bad kind." Jisung said eventually. Felix turned his head to look at him again, eyebrows furrowed. <em>They both knew Woojin, personally?</em></p>
<p>"Woojin used to be a member of Stray Kids. Chan had found him injured one night and brought him back," As he spoke, Jisung's voice slowly filled with contempt, "it was- we- he never... <em>We</em> never should've... We were mucking around in things bigger than we realized and it cost us. We were fucking idiots, Lix, that bastard pretended to be our <em>friend-</em>" </p>
<p>The other's temper was escalating quickly. Felix squeezed his hand hard, only loosening his hold when Jisung regained his breath.</p>
<p>"We nursed him back to health. He gave us a fake name. We should've done a background check. Maybe if we were smarter, more experienced, not so <em>fucking</em> stupid, then he'd still be alive..."</p>
<p>"Who, Jisung?" Felix asked gently. Jisung sighed.</p>
<p>"You might've seen the photos around in our rooms."</p>
<p>He had. They were probably dated before a time Seungmin and Jeongin joined, because the only ones in the photos were Chan, Minho, Changbin, Jisung, Hyunjin, and another unknown kid with black hair. </p>
<p>"A little over five years ago, We had another member. Innie and Minnie hadn't joined yet, so he was our only hacker. His name was Yedam," Jisung trailed off as he reminisced, a sad smile on his face, "he was amazing. So kind and talented. We met him by chance. Noticed he was casing the same place we were planning to hit, so Chan talked to him. Asked if he wanted to team up.</p>
<p>He agreed, surprisingly. He was supposed to kill the alarms while we made out with the merchandise. Split it 50/50. But instead Chan asked if he wanted to join us, and he agreed. He was our precious friend, and Woojin... took him from us." </p>
<p>"Do you mean he..." Felix trailed off sadly. Jisung pressed the heels of his palms to his eyes. </p>
<p>"He killed him. God, we never should've sent them in alone, Lix," Jisung's voice cracked, quiet as if it took all the air in his lungs to say those words, tears rolling down over the bridge of his nose and cheeks onto the pillow, "he'd still be alive if we sent him in with anybody but Woojin." </p>
<p>Jisung was full-on sobbing in front of him, now. Felix didn't know what exactly to do. Questioned plagued his mind. He'd never comforted somebody who was crying before. They were the ones always taking care of him, making sure <em>he</em> was okay. </p>
<p>So, he did what the others always did for him - pulled Jisung into a hug. The other buried his face into Felix's chest, hands clutching at his hoodie, heart-wrenching sobs echoing through the room. </p>
<p>Running a hand through the others hair and with one more reason to hate Woojin fueling his revenge fire, Felix hoped he was doing it right. </p>
<p><em><b>June 14th, Chan.</b></em> </p>
<p>Chan wanted to go inside. </p>
<p>He could hear Jisung crying through the door, hands aching to rip it open and join the two boys in the bed. Instincts told him not to, though. This moment belonged to them. </p>
<p>"What's up?" </p>
<p>Chan looked up to see Changbin standing down the hall, arms crossed, eyes filled with concern. Moving closer, Chan could see the moment Changbin realized what was happening on the other side of the door.</p>
<p>Fingers twitched against the muscle of his arm. It was clear Changbin wanted to go inside just as much as he did, but held back. </p>
<p>Instead, the younger let out a slow breath. "Come on, lets go spar," he turned away. Chan could see how hard it was for the other to leave in his stiff posture and troubled eyes.</p>
<p>With one last look to the door, Chan followed. </p>
<p>As they passed the lounge room, Chan sent a smile up Jeongin's way when the youngest looked down. Furrowed eyebrows was all he got in response. Maybe he wasn't as successful in acting like nothing was wrong as he thought he was. Even so, if Innie noticed, he bit his tongue. </p>
<p>They slid the glass door open, stepping onto the patio. It was warm out, a cool breeze blowing, sky clear of clouds. Perfect for sparring. </p>
<p>Now on the grass, they stripped themselves of their shirts. Stretching his arm over his chest, Chan looked up. </p>
<p>"I think Jisung told him about Yedam."</p>
<p>Changbin turned his head, pausing his stretching, perplexed. "He did?" He questioned.</p>
<p>Yedam had kind of been a taboo topic. Of course, they had told Jeongin and Seungmin eventually, but other than that it was sort of... A sensitive thing to bring up. They didn't like talking about it, not even with each other. It was hard. They never really made it far before tears or anger took over, remembering the image of their friends body floating, bloodied water stark against the blue.</p>
<p>Chan often finds himself recalling the events of that night in vivid detail. He's sure he isn't the only one. They don't talk about it beyond <em>"I miss him."</em></p>
<p>"I heard his name through the door," Chan revealed, guilty over his eavesdropping. Changbin resumed his stretching.</p>
<p>"That's good, isn't it? If we want Felix to trust us, we have to trust him too. If Jisung felt comfortable enough to tell him, that's a positive thing."</p>
<p>Chan huffed a laugh, a weight he hadn't noticed before lifting from his shoulders. Talking to Changbin always made him feel better - the other always knew what to say. He seldom failed to put things back in perspective with the ease and wisdom of a hundred elders.</p>
<p>"You're right," Chan agreed, stretching his other arm, "you ready for this?"</p>
<p>Changbin cracked his knuckles, a smirk tugging at his lips. "Always."</p>
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